Swords of Change
by 117Jorn
Summary: 0094: It has been one year since Char's Rebellion, and the Earth Federation grows more corrupt by the day. The Federation is wrapped around the fingers of Anaheim and the Vist Foundation. However, one man will challenge the Federation's might, right the wrongs of the Universal Century, and redeem the name of Zeon, as the true enemies of humanity are revealed at long last. MSGUC AU
1. Chapter 1: Awakening

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**_November 4th U.C 0094  
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**_Location: Unkown  
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A man's eyes slowly opened, as they opened the quickly closed again in pain from the light surrounding him, like how someone would shield their eyes from sunlight after waking up from a long sleep. '_I'm...alive?_' The man thought. Slowly allowing his eyes to adjust to the light, the man blinked a few times, and managed to take his surroundings.

He could see he was in a hospital room, and in a hospital bed, wearing nothing more than a pair of boxers and an undershirt. He groaned in annoyance, and knew the first thing on his new to-do list would be to find some actual clothes. However he was thankful that he wasn't wearing a cheap hospital gown, nearly stark naked.

After he removed an IV tube from his arm, and stripping off the several heart monitors on him, his ears began to register noises, the most prominent sound being that of alarms going off, klaxon alarms to be precise. This lead the man to believe that wherever he was, it was under military control. However then he began to hear voices, but they were coming from an intercom.

"_He's awake! He's Awake!_"

"_What? How is that possible? He's suppose to be under heavy sedation!_"

"_Why now of all times? Sleeves are attacking! Send in the guards to subdue him!_"

Upon hearing that, the man knew he had to get out of there, and now. However suddenly the room began to shake violently, and the lights went out in the room. Emergency lights then activated, emitting a reddish glow.

The man quickly hopped out of bed, and approached the closest door. He pulled on the handle, and he sighed in relief that the door opened. However standing just outside was a man wearing a Federation Officer Uniform, his rank showing he was a Lieutenant.

The Officer drew out his side arm, however the man acted quicker as he grabbed the Federation officer by the wrist and pulled him into the room. He then bashed his head into the wall, knocking him out quickly.

'_That was easier than expected,_' the man thought, before he was about to leave, but stopped as he looked at the uncontious Soldier, specifically his uniform.

A few minutes later, the man left the room, now clad in a Federation Officer Uniform armed with a pistol. '_Well, that's one problem taken care of,_' he thought. '_Now, to get out of here._'

He then began to move through the hallways of the facility, which he had managed to conform as a space station of some sort as he passed by a window which revealed the void of space outside. The window also provided him an accurate reflection of himself, showing his rather long blond hair, blue eyes, and the light scar across his face.

'_How long have I been out?_' The man thought, '_I haven't had my hair that long since I was in AEUG...and that's saying something._'

"_Attention, Attention all base personnel: Sleeves Forces have boarded the Station, Repeat: Neo Zeon Forces have Boarded the station! No matter what, do now allow them to obtain the prisoner!_" A announcement on the intercom sounded through the entire station, causing the man to stop for a moment.

"So, their here for me?" He asked, however he smiled upon 'feeling' a familiar presence nearby. '_New I could count on you,_' he thought as he continued through the base.

"There! There he is!" A voice called out, and the man cursed as he looked behind himself, and saw three additional guards pursuing him, armed with Submachines Guns "Get him!"

The guards fired, but the man took a turn around a corner and used it for cover as he avoided the 9mm rounds fired at him, drawing his own side arm.

When the firing stopped, he appeared out of his cover, and fired three shots from the pistol. He managed to kill the guard reloading his weapon, and took cover again as the other two guards opened fire.

'_Damn, this isn't good.'_ he thought, however he then heard the sound of additional weapons fire, and the painful cries of the guards as all suddenly went silent.

"Commander Aznable, are you alright?" A voice called out.

Char Aznable smiled as he moved from his cover. He then saw the sight of three commando's clad in Zeon Normal Suits, armed with assault rifles. The leading individual was a large man who looked in his 50's with short black hair and brown eyes. Both he and the other commando's looked at Char with a hint of awe and amazement, but the man was the first to recover.

"Yes, I am fine." Char said, "And thanks for the rescue, and you are?"

"Captain Suberoa Zinnerman of the Sleeves, sir!" He said, "We're here to get you out of here sir."

"I assume you have a method of escape already planned out, Captian?" He asked, and Zinnerman nodded "Yes, we're going to hijack some of the Feddie's Mobile Suits, and use them to return to the _Rewloola._"

Char nodded "Sounds good," he said, "But I must ask...how long has it been since the last Neo Zeon War?"

"Its only been one year sir, UC0094." Zinnerman said, "We can explain everything once we get out of here, please follow us."

"Very well, lead the way." Char said, and Zinnerman nodded as the team plus Char moved through the station. After fighting their way through a few more guards, they finally made their way to the hanger bay which, thankfully, had some Mobile Suits inside. They quickly made their way to the closest units, with Char getting into the cockpit of an MSA-003 Nemo, and Zinnerman entered a GM III, while the others entered Jegan D Types.

Char quickly began the activation sequence of the mobile suit, as the Panoramic Cockpit activated around him. '_Its old, but it'll do._' he thought as the eyes of the Nemo light up, as did the other units.

The four Mobile Suits began to move, as the hanger bay doors began to close. '_Do they really think that's going to keep us in?_' Char thought, rolling his eyes as he picked out the Nemo's Beam Rifle, and fired a shot at the door, blasting it open.

"Let's Go!" He said, as his Nemo soared out of the facility first, soon followed by Zinnerman and the others. They were soon greeted by a large battle going out ahead of them, with Federation Mobile Suits fighting Neo Zeon units. Some of them Char recognized as Geara Doga's, however there were a few units Char had never scene before, but reminded him of the old Zaku II.

Char's danger senses flared, and he responded instantly as he decelerated, avoiding several shots ahead of him as three GM II's descended upon him. The Red Comet rose his beam rifle again, and fired two shots, missing, but scattering the three GM's. The lead federation mobile suit tried to take him head on, big mistake as Char delivered a kick into the GM's torso, sending it tumbling back as he fired his beam rifle, destroying the unit.

The Second GM II attempted to take him out from behind, but Char drew out a beam saber and intercepted the GM's attack. He fired the 60mm Head Vulcans, destroying the GM's head and main camera. Char then punched GM away, but sliced the unit in half as he bolted away as its reactor detonated. The last GM II tried to take him out at a distance, firing his beam rifle, however Char evaded each shot as he moved in closer and close, until he was right on top of the Federation mobile suit, and slice its arms off. The GM fired its head vulcans, but they were silenced as Char stabbed a beam saber into its head, and kicked the unit away.

His sensors then picked up five more federation mobile suits approaching, and he was about to engage them until several beams erupted from random directions, making quick work of the federation units. Char looked at the source, and was surprised to see several Funnels flying around. He then watched as they retreated to their source, that being a green-colored mobile suit of Zeonic design, with four large 'binders'.

"_Commander Aznable, we must withdraw soon,_" A female voice said, who Char could tell was coming from the unknown unit, "_Federation Reinforcements could arrive at any minute now. I'll cover our retreat._"

Char nodded "Very well," he said, as he turned the Nemo around, and headed away from the station with Zinnerman's team. He soon came across a familiar sight, of the _Rewloola,_ escorted by three _Musaka-_class Cruisers, and _Endra-_class cruiser, and to Char's surprise, two _Musai-_class Late Production Type Cruisers.

"_This is Captain Zinnerman to _Rewloola," Zinnerman said on the comm, and Char could tell he was grinning "_Comet has been found, mission complete._"

There was a small pause, before a female voice said "_Good, bring him in._" She said, and Char knew that voice all too well. He then received a private message in the comm ways, and he accessed it. On the view screen, it then displayed a woman with shoulder length light brown hair, and green eyes wearing a Neo Zeon uniform. "_Hello Commander Char,_" She said, smiling. "_Its...good to see you again._"

Char smiled a bit in return "Its good to see you too Nanai," he said, "But I hope you can explain to me what's been going on, like how I woke up in a Federation Station."

"_I'll explain everything once your onboard, and after you've changed into something more appropriate._" Nanai Miguel said, with a light giggle, "_The Federation look just doesn't suit you._"

Char chuckled as well "I'll have to agree with you there, coming in." He said, as the Nemo approached the _Rewloola._

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**_Later  
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**_Onboard the _Rewloola**

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Char soon found himself in the meeting room onboard the _Rewloola,_ now clad in his old Neo Zeon uniform he wore in 0093. He was now simply awaiting the arrival of Nanai as he remained seated in the chair.

Soon the doors opened, and in stepped Nanai in all of her beauty, just as Char remembered her. He stood up upon her entering, and the two approached one another, their eyes locked to each other.

Then, in one swift motion, Nanai embraced Char in a tight hug, and nearly broke down in tears. Char was caught by surprise for a moment, before he began to return the embrace.

"Your alive..." she whispered, a slow stream of tears leaking from her eyes "The Intel showed us you were but...to actually see you...I..."

Char smiled as he looked into her eyes "Yes, I'm alive." he said, "Confused as hell, but alive. Hopefully though, you can shed some light as to what happened in my...absence."

Nanai managed to wipe away her tears and nodded as the two broke apart "Yes well, as you know, the year now is 0094, its been nearly one year since the failed Axis dropping. According to official Federation records, both you and Lieutenant Amuro Ray have been listed as MIA, presumed KIA." She began. "However, these reports are of course, false. Both you and Amuro were found adrift in the Nu Gundam and the Sazabi's Cockpit, but due too the Psyco-Field effect that stopped Axis's decent, both of you were put into Coma's."

Char nodded, allowing her to continue "You were both brought into the Federation's custody," she said before she scowled a bit "or more specifically, the Vist Foundation."

Char blinked at that, having heard of the Vists, "The Art Dealers?" he said, as Nanai shook her head at that.

"They're more than that," she said, "We found out just recently they are major stockholders in many industries, including those that produce Mobile Weapons, like Anaheim Electronics, they almost completely own them and make profit off of arms dealing. From what we have gathered, they have been manipulating events in the earth sphere ever since the Universal Century began, and practically control the Federation."

His eyes were wide as Nanai continued "We think they even had a hand in the terrorist attack in U.C 001, when the Laplace colony was destroyed." she said, "We know that after that day, the people on Earth completely lost trust with the spacenoids, and favored the extreme right-wing conservatives."

Now Char's eyes were narrowed, but he nodded. He knew after the Laplace Incident, the prime minister residence was forbidden to be in space and harsh restriction laws limited the rights of spacenoids were passed. All space colonies were forced to be under the control of the Earth Federation. This not only made space colonization seemed more to be a forced deportation of people, as the Earth became overpopulated, but also revealed the selfishness of the people on Earth.

"So, the Vist were behind it all?" He asked, and Nanai nodded "We believe so," she said. "But we lack any hard proof to present what we know too the right people. This isn't like the Titans, this is much different, and runs far deeper into the Earth Forces core."

He nodded a bit "I see..." he said, "But what confused me is how the Vist has so much power to begin with."

"Well, we don't know the details," Nanai said, "But it has something to do with a thing called 'Laplace's Box'."

"Laplace's Box?" Char asked, with a risen eyebrow "What's that?"

"No one knows for sure," Nanai said, shrugging. "From what we have gathered, its the source of the Vist Foundation's control and wealth. Whatever it is, it has the power to free the colonies from earth, and bring about the complete downfall of the Earth Federation. The Vist foundation is using Laplace's Box as a bargaining chip against the federation, threatening to release its content if they don't do what they want."

Char sighed at the fact that the Vist had the Earth Federation and it's military pratically wrapped around their finger.

"That's just perfect," he said sarcastically, "What else is there you can tell me?"

Nanai seemed to grin, making Char blink, "Well, there is a Guerilla movement against the Federation Government and it's policies, made up of former Federation and Zeon Forces, many of them veterans from the One Year War, Operation: Varuna's Tears, Operation: Stardust, the Grypes Conflict, and the Neo-Zeon Wars," she said, "Their a lot like the AEUG and Karaba back when the Titans were around, in fact they have a fair share of allies in Karaba. They call themselves Shord na Saoirse, or swords of freedom."

"Oh?" Char said, perking his interest as Nanai nodded "Yes, they've been around ever since Operation Stardust." She said, "They use Mobile Suits and ships used by both Zeon and Federation, with modern suits to ones dating back all the way to the One Year War, but they've upgraded their units to more modern standard. One of their Zaku II's could probably stand on its own against a Jegan. They have been one of our closest allies after the Second Neo Zeon War ended, and they helped us find you."

The more Char heard about them, the more he began to like this 'Sword of Freedom' group. "Interesting..." he said, "Where are they based?"

"We know their space forces are centered around the Shole Zone, where Delaz's fleet hid out until Operation Stardust." She explained, "As for their earth-side base, we think its somewhere around Antarctica." She grinned once more "But their not our only ally." She said, "Ever heard of Mars Zeon?"

"Mars Zeon?" Char asked, confused. Nanai then explained "Their Zeon forces who fled after the battle of A Baoa Que, however instead of settling on Axis with Neo Zeon, they settled on Mars, and have been there ever since. They have been building up their military, and Industrial might there ever since. They've been rather quiet for a while, but after the last Neo Zeon war they started becoming more active. They, like the Sword of Freedom, use upgraded One Year War Era Mobile Suits and ships from Zeon."

Char smiled a bit, knowing that at least they had no shortage of allies at the moment "This is good news," he said, "But what about Amuro? Have you located him?"

"No sir," Nanai said, shaking her head "You were kept at seperate facilities, and the Swords only knew where you were located. All we do know is that he's probably being kept comatose like you were."

"I see..." Char said, "But why would they keep us alive though?"

Nanai sighed "Your not going to like it, but..." she began, "We believe the Vist Foundation was going to attempt to make Cyber Newtype Clones of you and Amuro, and make their own small private army for their use only."

His eyes narrowed upon hearing that, "I see..." he said, "Then we're going to have to find Amuro, and get him out of the Vist Foundation's grasp...besides, I owe Amuro that much, he does not deserve to spend his life in a coma while people like the Vist make a Cyber Newtype army of his clones."

"I agree," Nanai said, "So do the swords, as they already began searching for his whereabouts, but we've had no luck in finding him yet."

Char sighed a bit as he closed his eyes, and began to think. From what Nanai had told him, the Earth had not improved at all after his rebellion one year prior, but now he knew there was a hidden faction that might have been responsible for everything that has happened in the universal century since year one. He was even beginning to suspect they might have even had a hand in his Father's Death.

If the earth didn't change, and soon, a repeat of the Titans could very easily happen. And _that _was something he needed to avoid, for the sake of all humanity, not just for Newtypes, but for those living on earth as well.

Char has learned his lesson from his rebellion, thanks to Amuro, he now knows he can't force humanity's evolution from earth. However he also knows humanity must at least begin leaving earth for the colonies, and in larger numbers than they are now. Otherwise the Earth will become a desolate and lifeless world, crushed by the weight of humanity's overpopulation, something he wants to avoid.

However...a plan soon came to mind as he remembered what Nanai said of 'Laplace's Box'. Whatever it is, it could be the key to finally make humanity see they _must _expand into space, and leave earth behind. He opened his eyes, and smiled. Nanai instantly recognized that look, that being the look Char gives when he has a plan, or at least in the progress of making one.

"Nanai, what do we know so far of the Vist Foundation, and their connection too Laplace's Bo?" He asked, "Specifically, who in the foundation knows where we could find it?"

"Like I said, we have little information," Nanai said, "But from what I know, none of the leading Vist members know the Box's exact location, instead several of their highest ranking members simply know clues and hints as to where it might be. But..."

"But what?" Char asked.

"But...recently, the Federation began the UC Project," She began, "Its a project meant to modernize the Earth Forces military after what happened in 0093. However, the project is being funded by the Vist Foundation, and lead by Cardeas Vist, the current head of the Vist Foundation."

"Really, now?" He asked with interest, and Nanai nodded "Yes, though its just a gut feeling...I think if we pay attention to the U.C Project, it might lead us to wherever Laplace's Box is."

"I agree," Char said, "Keeping an eye on the U.C Project, an in extension the Vist Foundation, is in our best interests. In the meantime, we should focus on finding the location of Amuro, as well as cause as much trouble for the Vist Foundation and Federation as we can." He grinned a bit "Just like our days in the AEUG."

Nanai smiled a bit hearing that "That's the Char Aznable I know," she said, "Right now, we're on our way to meet with the leaders of the Swords of Freedom at the Shole Zone, we should be there soon...in the meantime, I want you to meet someone."

Char rose an eyebrow in confusion, but Nanai just motioned for him to follow her out of the room. He did so, and a minute later he found them inside their old quarters, which hadn't changed much since his absence. However he instantly took notice of the small cradle at the far end of the room.

His eyes widened a bit as he looked at Nanai, who just smiled as the two approached. There, sleeping in the cradle was a small One Year old baby boy, wrapped around a light blue blanket. "Char...meet your son, Giorgio." Nanai said.

Char's eyes widen in disbelief as he looked at the baby in the cradle. Without knowing it he was kneeling and looking at Giorgio...his son. His and Nanai's son.

"My...My son?" he said, and Nanai nodded as she Char place a shaking hand on his child's head, causing the infant to squirm a bit at the contact. Nanai soon kneeled next to him, her hands on the Red Comet's shoulders.

"Yes, Char," she said, "He is your son, he's our son."

Char Aznable, for the first time in many years, was speechless. He had expected many things after waking up from his Coma, but...becoming a father? That wasn't among the things he expected.

Nanai at first appeared worried by Char's expression, however he then began to smile a bit, as he began to gently stroke his son's head. "Well...I'll admit I didn't see this one coming." He whispered, being careful to not wake up the child. "You named him after your brother, right?"

Hearing that, she smiled and nodded "Yes, it was the first name that came to mind." She said, and Char nodded.

"A good name," he said, before he frowned a bit. "I...I can't believe I missed it though...being with you the day..."

Nanai knew what he was talking about, and just hugged him "It wasn't your fault you missed out the day he was born, Char." she said reassuringly, "If anyone, blame the Vist. Besides...your here, now."

Char smiled as he hugged her back. It was then he remembered a certain blonde haired sibling of his.

"Nanai, what about my sister, Artesia?" he asked worriedly, and Nanai smiled at that, knowing his concern for his younger sister, like any responsible big brother would.

"She's fine Char, she's with the Swords. As their Chief Medical Officer," she said and she saw Char smile in relief at that.

"That's good," he said, "And what of Mineva?"

"She's fine as well, she's currently hiding out in our base of operations, the Palau Mining Asteroid." Nanai said, "Of course, we had to do backroom dealings with the Federation to keep her out of their hands."

Char sighed "At least she's safe," he said, "I hate to get her involved with all of this, but more will follow us with her on our side."

Nanai nodded at that, however before she could say anything, Giorgio began to whine a bit as he woke up. Char smiled a bit as he picked the young child up into his arms, and saw his green eyes "Well, looks like he got your eyes." he said. Nanai smiled and nodded, "Yeah, he does." She said, happy that at long last, their family was reunited.

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**_Later  
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**_Shole Zone  
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The _Rewloola_ and its escorts, after making sure the Federation wasn't following them, finally made their way towards the Shole Zone, making way towards the Shord na Saoirse base in the 'Garden of Thorns', where 11 years prior, it was the headquarters of Delaz's Fleet.

Char was on the bridge with Nanai, and Captain Hill Dawson. Char glanced out the window as the _Rewloola _passed by the wrenched debris of different warships and mobile units dating back all the way to the one year war.

He sighed sadly at the loss of so many good soldiers and pilots. Men and women. Ages 15 to 50.

_'So many lost...,' _he thought somberly, as he saw a couple of Mobile Suits, a GM and a Zaku entangled as if in a lover's embrace. Holes in the torsos where there cockpits used to be, _'And all for what? Greed? Power? Prestige?' _

He continued to look at all the wrecks, however one in particular caught his attention. A single warship, with a design Char knew all too well.

'_A _Pegasus-_class?_' he thought, as they neared the wrechage, and Char got a better look, and noticed that it was indeed a _Pegasus-_class vessel, specifically one from the _Albion _subclass. However Char also noticed that this vessel didn't have nearly as much damage as the other vessels in the Shole Zone had. And unless his Newtype Senses were betraying him, he could swear he could sense people onboard it.

"Captain, Mobile Suits detected!" One of the operators said. Char looked, and outside he noticed several Mobile Suits appear from behind the different sets of debris. He he recognized several models, including Zaku II Kai's, GM Customs, and Gelgoog's. However there were a few units he did not recognize, namely several units reminding him of the GM Kai used around 0083, while others were of designs he had never seen before.

Then, the so-called 'Sunk' _Pegasus-_class warship began to light up, as its engines activated and the lights turned on. Thanks too the lights, Char could now see the name of the vessel, but was surprised to see written on the side was 'MSC-07 _Albion_'. The same _Pegasus_-class that ran the gauntlet of the Delaz Fleet.

"_This is the _Albion_ to approaching Zeon vessel, please transmit clearance codes," _came a voice on the radio.

Char then watched as Nanai moved toward one of the operator stations, took the headset, and pressed a button.

"This is Nanai Miguel on the _Rewloola_, sending clearance codes Talon-11-Hawk-38," she said, and Char raised an eyebrow at that, wondering where she got clearance codes.

There was a small pause on the radio "_Clearance Codes accepted, welcome back _Rewloola." Came the reply. "_The Commander's wish to speak with you as soon as you dock with the colony._"

"I will, thank you. _Rewloola _out." Nanai said, as she removed the head set. The battleship continued forward, as the _Albion _moved in to escort the Zeon Vessels towards their head quarters.

A few more minutes later, the bridge crew of the _Rewloola _soon came across a O'Neil Cylinder Type Colony, which looked very damaged, yet still serviceable. It appeared to have been designed on a Close-Type design similar to the Side 3 Colonies.

"The Garden of Thorns," Nanai said, "Once the hideout for Delaz's flee in 0083, now the headquarters of the Swords of Freedom's space forces."

Char nodded as he looked out the window, and noticed multiple warships which, unlike the other ships in the shole zone, were fine and working perfectly. He saw _Salamis-_class Cruisers, _Magellan-_class Battleships, _Musai-_class Light Cruisers, _Chivvay-_class Heavy Cruisers, _Zanzibar-_class Cruisers, he even saw a few _Gwazine-_class Battleships, and _Pegasus-_class Carriers.

However, what really caught his eyes were the two large asteroids which appeared on either side of the colony. Char blinked in surprise, not believing what he was seeing.

"...Axis?" He asked, and Nanai nodded "Yes and no," she said, "After your rebellion one year ago, both of the pieces of Axis were sent into the Shole Zone. The Swords of Freedom recovered them, and situated them around their station as a defense network, acting as two separate bases, Axis Alpha, and Axis Beta."

Char was suprised, as his respect for the Swords of Freedom grew more and more.

"The Swords are really resourceful," he commented, and Nanai nodded.

"And original," she said, "You see the mobile suits that look like GM-Kai's?" she asked and Char looked at the grey with black trim mobile suits that looked like GM-Kai's, "That's actually a new model based on the GM Kai, the TMSF-081 Patriot, they have been upgraded to more modern standards, and with new weaponry. They manufacture them on their own using facilities they built with their allies in Gründer."

"Gründer?" Char Asked.

"Gründer Heavy Industries," Nanai explained, "Their a new corporation that just began rising into power, their already becoming the biggest competition Anaheim's ever had when it comes to Mobile Suit production. They've been managing to produce several models of State of the Art Mobile Suits which can easily surpass almost anything Anaheim's built. Officially they work for the Federation like Anaheim, but the CEO of Gründer is an ally of the Swords, and has been selling them Mobile Suits and equipment for a while now. They made the Patriot's just for the Sword's to use."

Char instantly began to like Gründer Industries "I'm guessing Anaheim and the Vist Foundation don't like them very much?" he asked.

"You have _no _idea." Nanai said with a giggle as the _Rewloola _began to dock with the colony.

The Neo Zeon warship fired it's reversed thrusters, making it slow down until it reached the docking hatch, resulting in a dull thump and the sound of air pressurizing.

"Well. Let's go Char," Nanai said, and the Red Comet nodded and left with his lover to the boarding hatch. When they arrived the hatch opened, and the other side were three individuals who were wearing lightish grey uniforms with a black trim, with two of them carrying an assault rifle and wearing.

Char blinked, as he thought that the uniforms looked like a good blend between the Federal Forces, and Zeon uniforms.

**(Patriot-112 A/N: For those of you, who are wondering, think of a light grey version of the ZAFT Uniform from Gundam SEED)**

The figure in the middle was a woman who looked in her late teen's with short ear length dark blue hair and green eyes, standing at around 5'10. "Miss Miguel," she said, saluting. "Lieutenant Emily Amada, I'm to escort you too the commander's."

Nanai returned the salute, "Thank you Lieutenant Amada, please lead the way,"

The young woman nodded and then turned around and led the two through the hallways, the clacking of boots echoing off the walls. It took 5 minutes for them to reach their destination. A pair of doors guarded by two soldiers in a dark green version of the other's uniforms, each wielding Bullpup-style Assault Rifles, appearing to be modernized versions of the S&T Daewoo XK8 Assault Rifle.

The two soldiers saluted as they approached, and opened the two doors. They were then lead into a well sized meeting room, with a large T.V screen at the end which currently was displaying the area outside the Shoal Zone **(Think the room where Mason meets Kennedy in Black Ops).**

Char could see two figures looking at the map, as he and Nanai walked to a chair.

"Admiral, Vice Admiral," Lt. Amada said, as she saluted, "I brought Miss Miguel and Commander Aznable as you requested,"

"Thank you Emily, you may leave." The first one, with a woman's voice said. Emily nodded, and left along with the two soldiers, the door closing behind them.

Char and Nanai then heard a light chuckling "Char Aznable, the Red Comet," the second figure, a man said, in a voice Char vaguely remembered causing his eyes to widen. "It's been a while, hasn't it?"

The two figures then turned away from the map on the screen, revealing their faces and attire. The first, was a man who looked to be in his mid to late 30's with shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes, wearing a red and black version of the SoF uniform.

The seocnd was a woman who appeared to also be in her 30's with black hair with brown streaks tied into a pony-tail, and brown eyes that held kidness, but also a determined ferocity. She was wearing a custom brown and black version of the same uniform.

"I-It can't be...," Char said in shock.

"But it is, Char." The woman said, as she grinned "Its good to see you again, we haven't seen you since, what? A Baoa Que?"

"Nasha...Zar..." He said, slowly grinning "How the hell are you two still alive?"

"What? Did you think an armada of Feddie ships could bring us down?" Zar Hellfury asked with a chuckle, "I thought we taught you better than that Char."

"We managed to hitch a ride back to Side 3 on a _Musai _when the fortress fell," Nasha Artemis said. "But, shortly after Zeon's surrender we didn't like how the Republic was more controlled by the federation than anyone else, so we left along with a few other former Zeon pilots. After Operation Stardust, we took control of the Garden of Thorns since Delaz completely abandoned it afterwards. When the Titans came around, a lot of Federation Soldiers defected as well, and joined us. So we founded the Swords of Freedom, to fight those who both cling to Gihren's philosophy of Zeon, and bastards like the Titans."

"We weren't as popular as AEUG was though," Zar said, "We kept most of our operations secret, since we had our attention more on the _real _enemy of the Earth Sphere."

"The Vist Foundation..." Char said, and the two nodded.

"That's right," Nasha said, "Their very powerful and very dangerous, their almost as bad as the Titans were, if not worse. And after your rebellion back in 93, they've been growing in power."

Char sighed at that, "To be honest, I'm still reeling from the fact that they were responsible for this whole mess," he said, "The Bombing of Laplace, the One Year War, everything," he then looked at his old friends from the One Year War, "Exactly how many Forces do you have?"

He saw them both sigh at that. "We have quite a few supporters and forces, but not enough." Zar said. "The Majority of our fighting strength lies in outdated and refitted weapons and equipment dating back all the way to the one year war. We've managed to upgrade most of our fighting force to modern standards, but not all of them. Gründer Heavy Industries have been helping us, but even they have limits as to what they can do."

"Most of our space forces are stationed here at the Garden of Thorns," Nasha said, "The ships we have the most of are from the _Salamis, Musai, _and _Magellan-_classes and their variants, along with many supply ships like the _Papua-_class and _Columbia-_class. We have a few _Zanzibar-_class Mobile Cruisers, _Chivvay-_class Heavy Cruisers, and even a few _Pegasus-_class ships we've captured or salvaged."

"In fact, the _Albion _and all of her crew, as you've already seen, defected to our side a few years after stardust." Zar commented. "Anyways, we also have a few battleships, including four old _Gwazine-_class, we even have the last _Dolos-_class Heavy Carrier that survived the one year war, the _Midolo._" He then grinned "But our flagship is a real kicker...a _Dogosse Giar-_class Battleship _Synaps._"

Char's eyes widened upon hearing that "You have a _Dogosse Giar-_class?" He asked, "But...I thought only two were made, the _Dogoose _herself, and the _General Revil._"

"Officially yes," Nasha said, grinning herself. "But about a year afterstardust, we discovered an incomplete _Birmingham-_class Battleship which was just left to rot after Stardust, since battleships like the _Magellan _and _Birmingham _classes were considered outdated. However we managed to...liberate it, and take it back here. After getting the schematics of the _Dogosse Giar, _we made enough modifications to transform it into the only other _Dogosse Giar-_class in existence."

Char's mouth was gaping upon hearing that, "..Wow..." he said, "You guys sure know how to improvise..."

"Hey, we know how to make the impossible possible," Zar said with a chuckle, "However we usually keep the _Synapse _along with our other larger ships like our _Gwazine's _and the _Midolo _on reserve."

"On earth however, things are a different story," Nasha said, with a grin. "We have several bases and facilities at Antarctica, and they have decently sized submarine fleets, plus two _Himalaya-_class carriers. They've been managing to produce numerous mobile suits and other combat vehicles for a while now, building up sufficient fighting forces. We still don't have enough to take on the Federation head on, but we have enough to begin hit and run warfare like the AEUG did."

Char just looked bewildered while Nanai giggled at his expressions "You two have been busy..." he said, and Zar chuckled.

"We've had a little over ten years to prepare Char," he said, "Of course we've been busy." But then he turned serious. "But now its time we made our move." He said, "But we're going to need you and Neo Zeon's help if we're going to pull this off."

Char simply smiled "How can I help?" He asked, and the two just grinned.

"That's the Char Aznable I know," Nasha said, before picking up a remote, and clicking a button. The T.V Screen then displayed the image of a Mobile Suit "A few months ago, we received intel from our spy network that Anaheim just finished development of a new mobile suit," she said, "The MSN-06S Sinanju Stein, it was developed off of data from the Nu Gundam and your old Sazabi, making it just as dangerous as both units."

Char looked at the suit, and couldn't help but be amazed by it, "Impressive, Anaheim sure does know how their mobile suits," he said honestly, and everyone nodded.

"True," Nasha said, "And that's why we're gonna steal it from them," she then grinned ferally, "And _you_ are gonna be it's pilot,"

Char blinked in suprise at that, "Say what?" he said and he looked around seeing the three people with him grinning.

"That's right Char," Zar said, "We and the other Commanders voted, and decided you're the best choice for the Sinanju Stein,"

Char was floored by that, and looked at Nanai who nodded, and looked back at the image of Anahiem's newest model. Then his smile came back full force.

"I'll do it," he said, and everyone grinned at that.

After he said that, a beeping was heard and Nasha used the remote to change the screen, and soon a man appeared, wearing the same grey uniform as Emily, only he was not wearing a cap, and looked to be in his twenties with reddish brown hair and cyan colored eyes.

"Yes? What is it, Ensign?" Nasha said, and the man nodded.

"Ma'am, Captain Uraki's Team just reported in," the Ensign said, "They said they found something and are asking to speak with you,"

"Put them through," Nasha said, and the screen then changed to the image of a 30 year old man with short military crew cut black hair and black eyes wearing a dark blue SoF uniform.

"_Ma'am, glad your here, your not going to believe what me and my team just found._" The man said, grinning.

Nasha rose an eyebrow at that "Well, out with it!" She said, "What did you find?"

"_While out on patrol, we stumbled across what appears to be an old abandoned Titan Base._" Kou Uraki said, "_It looks like it was abandoned after the Titans Policies were revealed to the public, they left in such a hurry they left behind all sorts of good stuff._"

"Like?" Zar asked, though he was beginning to like where this was going.

"_We found two _Salamis Kai-_class Cruisers, three _Alexandria-_class Heavy Cruisers, and a _Lombardia-_class Cruiser,_" Kou said, shocking everyone. "_And that's not all, we also found about thirty seven GM Quel's from the Konppeitoh Army, eight GM Custom's, and to top it all off, we also found an RX-78T Gundam Titan Version._"

"Hot Damn!" Zar said after a few moments of silence, "Looks like your boys really hit the jackpot today, Uraki!"

The man gave a cocky grin at that, "_That we did, sir. Especially with the Gundam_," he said, and then became sheepish, "_Though do you mind sending some help? I doubt we can bring all of this back to base ourselves_,"

Nasha chuckled a bit "Don't worry, I'll send you some _Papua's _and _Columbia's _to help out," she said, "We'll also send in some men to get those ships here as well."

"_Roger that, we'll get things ready here, Uraki out._" Kou said as the transmission ended.

"Well...that was interesting." Nanai said, and Char nodded "Indeed it was," he said, "Looks like you guys tend to have lots of luck."

"You have no idea," Zar said, "Anyways, back to how we're going to steal the Sinanju. We just found out that Anaheim is transferring the Sinanju from Grenada to Von Braun."

"So, we're stealing it during the transfer then?" Char asked, and the others nodded.

"That we are," Nasha said, "Of course, its not going to be easy. The Sinanju is being guarded by a small Earth Forces fleet of 7 ships, including an _Irish-_class battleship." She then grinned "But this is nothing to the Red Comet, I assume?"

Char just chuckled "Just give me a Mobile Suit and enough support, and that Sinanju is as good as ours." he said.

"It's good to have you back Char. It will be just like Loum," Zar said, as Nasha nodded in agreement. Char just smiled.

"Indeed," he said, and then became serious, "Before I go after the Sinanju, what can you tell me about my sister?,"

Zar and Nasha understood his concern as a brother and decided to tell him, "Let's just say she's a morale booster for many of the Zeon members of our group," Nasha said, "Not only as an excellent doctor, but because of her heritage,"

Char's eyes widen in alarm, "Wait! You told them!?"

Zar raised his hands in a placating manner to calm his friend down, "Hold on Char, let us explain first!" he said, "You see, after your rebellion a year ago, most of the Zeon Remnants were broken, believing that there was no one left to continue on the ideals of Zeon Deikun."

"However that was where your sister and Mineva came in." Nasha continued, "Sayla came to us, and told us her idea to increase moral among the Zeon Troops by revealing her heritage, and teaming up with Mineva. She did this so that the Zeon Soldiers would become disillusioned from Gihren Zabi's cause. She worked with Mineva to do this, as a way to show the end of the feud between the Deikun and Zabi Families, to unit Zeon under one banner."

"Not only has this increased the overall moral among the Zeon Troops of SoF, but its also gained us the loyalty of Zeon Remnants on earth." Zar finished.

Char had to sigh at that. His sister was certainly the type to put herself in harm's way, just for the sake of peace. She proved that time and again.

"My crazy little sister," he grumbled, causing the three people to laugh.

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_**

**_Later  
_**

**_Back on the _Rewloola**

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0  
_**

After going over the plan with Nasha and Zar, Char and Nanai once again found themselves on the bridge of the _Rewloola, _as they assembled the fleet that they will use to take the Sinanju Stein. In addition to the _Rewloola, _and its current escorts consisting of the three _Musaka-_class Cruisers, one _Endra-_class cruiser and the two _Musai-_class Light Cruisers, Zar himself will be setting out in his own warship, the _Tivvay-_class Fast Heavy Cruiser '_Devil's Advocate_', the _Garencieres_, commanded by Captain Zinnerman, and, to Char's surprise, the _Argama_, the same ship he served on during the Gryps Conflict.

Nasha explained to him that after the First Neo Zeon War, the crew of the _Argama _had switched to the more advance _Nahel Argama,_ after the former was damaged during the Dublin Colony Drop. Karaba was meant to repair it, but by the time they were done, the war had ended. Hence Karaba had decided to give the _Argama _too the Swords of Freedom, for them to use.

Char was happy to see the old girl again. Because, espite it being of Federation build, it was a splendid ship and a force to be reckoned with. It was also the first and probably last time he served with his adversary, the famous former Captain of the White Base, Bright Noa.

Thinking of the Londo Bell Commander, Char wondered what happened to him after his Rebellion. He shook his head at that, deciding he'll wait to find out later after the mission.

"Commander Char, all ships report ready." Nanai said, "We can mobilize at a moment's notice."

Char nodded "Very well," he said, "Open a comm with all ship."

Nanai nodded and ordered one of the Bridge Operators to open a channel to the fleet. When he did and signaled Nanai that it was done, Nanai turned back to Char and nodded.

**(Begin Playing: MSG Char's Counterattack Main Title)**

"This is Commander Char Aznable," he began, "As many of you have recently discovered, I am in fact still alive. For the past year, I have been kept prisoner by the people you know as the Vist Foundation, who, from what I have been told, have been responsible for everything that has happened in the Universal Century."

"As you know, by the day the Earth Federation grows more and more corrupt, as their souls are still brought down by earth's gravity." He continued, "If they are not stopped, a repeat of the Titans is inevitable, and that is something we must prevent, for the sake of all humanity, both those on earth and for the spacenoids."

"They're are, of course, Zeon Remnants, who strongly believe in the ideals of Gihren Zabi, and agree the Earth should be purged of all Earthnoids." He said, before pausing. "And too those who do, I say this: How can you justify the slaughter of billions of innocent men women and children? In the first half of the one year war, nearly half of the human population in the earth sphere was wiped out, all because of Gihren Zabi. If he had it his way, Gihren would have destroyed the earth out-right! My Father, Zeon Deikun, believed humans were to leave earth alone, and begin our lives anew in space, rather than to cling to it like parasites, remaining until there is not a single resource remained on earth. This is the flaw the Federation is making, and it is the same flaw that Gihren Zabi was making."

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_**

**_Meanwhile  
_**

**_With Nasha  
_**

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0  
_**

Unknown to Char, Nasha was hearing his speech as well, and she was playing it on all SoF comm Channels, so that everyone in the resistance group could hear it, both on earth and in space. '_You show e'm Char._' She thought, as she grinned.

"_It is also, thanks to Gihren Zabi, that all of the earth federation, and the people living on earth, believe that all Zeon are driven by his ideals. Even the Republic of Zeon is not spared from this view, as many on the earth resent them with hatred. The time has come for us to prove them wrong!_"

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_**

**_SoF Antarctic Base  
_**

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0  
_**

Meanwhile, in a medical bay in an Antarctic base which was largely empty, a woman in her 30's with shoulder length blond hair and blue eyes smiled as she heard the speech. '_Nii-san...you finally understand._' she thought.

"_We will prove to the Federation, and too all of the earth sphere that not all of Zeon are fanatics to Gihren Zabi! To any who still cling to his ideals, then you shall find no help from us, and you will be stopped._"

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_**

**_Onboard the_ Devil's Advocate**

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0  
_**

Zar listened to Char's speech with a smile on his face "Just when you think he didn't have another speech in him..." he said, "I trained him well."

"_Today will mark the day we cast aside our dark past, and begin anew! Just as all humanity must do, as we cast aside our ancient past on earth, and begin anew in space!_"

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

_**Onboard the **_**Rewloola**

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0  
**_

"The journey ahead of us will not be easy, for the Federation, Vist Foundation, and Gihren Loyalists will be fighting us to the bitter end." Char said. "I have not had the pleasure of fighting along side many of you, however I know all of you will do you best for the sake of the earth, and for all of humanity."

He then paused for a moment, and chuckled for a moment "This...would usually be the part where I would say something like 'Sieg Zeon' or something like that..." he said, "But that is something to be said by a Principality Loyalists... So I will end this by stating that in the end, we will succeed...all that I ask of you, is for you to help me bring about the world that my Father, Zeon Deikun, envisioned all those years ago."

"I will not force you to make this decision. The choice is yours alone, and I will certainly not make you swear a bogus oath of loyalty, like Gihren's idol Adolph Hitler made the German Army do during the Second World War."

"Our ancestors built a place for us here in space, thanks too their indomitable spirit and the strength of their resolve. Now its time that we tap into that same resolve to protect what they struggled to build. Let us show the Federation and the Vist Foundation what happens when they threaten our homes!"

When he stopped speaking, there was a brief silence, then, across all of the comm channels, there was a massive wave of chants, cheers and cries which filled the comm channels throughout the fleet.

Char smiled, knowing he still got it. He felt a pair of arms wrap around his, and turned to see Nanai smiling at him, and he returned.

"You did well, Char," she said, "Not only will you gain the support of Spacenoids, but Earthnoids as well,"

Char nodded knowing it was true, "Yes, and my father's dream _will _become a reality. And I will bring peace to humanity, and for our son to grow up in a brighter future."

Nanai nodded "Yes, so we'd best get started making that future." She said, and Char nodded as well as they took their positions. "Captain Dawson, if you would?"

Captain Dawson smiled and nodded "All Engines, ahead full!" He ordered. Outside, the _Rewloola's _engines ignited once more as it accelerated forward. Soon following suit, the other vessels of the fleet ignited their engines, as they moved forward towards their mission, and begin the redemption of Zeon.

* * *

**117Jorn: And DONE! Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of 'Swords of Change'!**

**Patriot-112: And there will be more where that came from, I can tell you that. We will be working on Chapter 2 as soon as we can. So Jorn, what's happening next time?  
**

**117Jorn: Well, next chapter will be the theft of the Sinanju Stein, as Char begins his 'Second Coming', and shows to the Federation he's still alive and kicking, while stealing one of their Prototypes!  
**

**Patriot-112: Nice!  
**

**117Jorn: That's right, so until next time, Ja Ne!  
**


	2. Chapter 2: Second Coming

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_**

**_November 5th U.C 0094_**

**Rewloola, **_**nearing the moon**_

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_**

Char looked up at what would be his Mobile Suit for the coming battle. An AMS-129 Geara Zulu, already customized with his personal Crimson Red color scheme. It has double the power output of a standard unit, which further made it stand out in the _Rewloola's _hanger bay.

It had been a few hours since they launched from the Garden of Thorns to steal the Sinanju Stein, and everyone was preparing for the first mission to fight the Vist Foundation. Hopefully the mission would go on without a hitch, however Char had a gut feeling that something will happen during the mission.

Putting those thought for later analysis, he refocused on the team he will now be leading into battle, the 'Neo Zeon Royal Guards'. Before he joined, they were led by a young boy named Angelo Sauper, a very talented mobile suit pilot, and an obvious Newtype. He seems to follow Char's ideals with a blind faith, being completely devoted to his cause believing the Red Comet were some sort of immortal god. Char didn't quite like having blind loyalists, but as long as it was his choice, he would allow it.

However, Char could tell there was something else to Angelo's past. Nanai confirmed his suspicions when she told him how they found Angelo. Suffering nightly abuse from his step father, his mother committing suicide upon learning it, Char was amazed the child was still sane at all. Nanai explained that he had run from his foster home, and he eventually stumbled across a Neo Zeon Officer on Side 3. He took Angelo away from Side 3, and recruited him into Neo Zeon.

And despite being 19 years old, Angelo was well trained in hand-to-hand combat, a well-balanced pilot, and a capable officer with the rank of Lieutenant.

Turning his attention from Angelo, he then focused on another pilot. Aalina Schenk Von Stuffenberg, a 20 year old woman from Side 3. She was a descendent of the famed WWII Wehrmacht Colonel and Adolf Hitler assassination coordinator, Claus von Stauffenberg. Her father was a Zeon Officer who died in the One year war, while her mother died when she was raped by Federation Occupation Forces while Aalina was with a friend of the family. This caused her to hate the federation leadership, since the soldiers who killed and raped her mother got off nearly scot free, but she knew better than too hate civilians.

She witnessed his rebellion in 0093, and it was part of the reason why she joined the Neo Zeon movement afterwards. Char would admit she was head-strong, but very calculating, and very clever.

Speaking of which, Char turned to see that she had just entered the hanger bay, wearing her brown-colored Neo Zeon normal suit. She had Dark red, brown highlighted hair which stretched just past her ears, and Marigold eyes. Char could tell by being around her that she was a Newtype, or at least a Newtype in progress.

He watched as she headed toward her mobile suit. According to Nanai, Aalina piloted a Grunder Heavy Industries modified version of the MS-18E Kampfer, called the MS-18KJ KampferJager, the only one in the Sleeves. From Nanai told her of the KampferJager, it was a vast improvement over its OYW counterpart.

Then there was the last member of his team, the only familiar face he hasn't seen since the one year war. Shin Matsunaga, aka 'The White Wolf of Solomon'. The third top raking ace of Zeon, surpassed only by Johnny Ridden, and himself. He was already in the hanger, preparing his own unit, a pure white GIMS-127MH Hizack High Maneuver Type, another Mobile Suit built by Gründer as an improved variant of the Hizack.

As Char reviewed his team, he couldn't help but smile '_With a team like this..._' he thought. '_We can handle anything the Federation could send our way._'

He then felt a familiar presence, and smiled as he turned to see Nanai approach, with Giorgio in her arms. "Shouldn't you be on the bridge?" He asked, "It's almost time for the battle you know."

"I know," Nanai said, "But we just wanted to wish you luck, as much as I know you don't really need it."

Char chuckled and walked over to his family. He smiled at his son as he gently placed a hand on his head.

"And I would welcome it every time," he said. "Even Newtypes need as much luck as they can get."

"Yeah..." Nanai said, "Just...please be careful out there, alright? I lost you once, I don't want to lose you again..."

Char smiled a bit as he hugged his family "Don't worry," he said, "I'll be coming back, it will take more than what the Feddies brought with them today to stop me."

Nanai smiled at that, "I'll hold you to that promise, Char," she said and then kissed him, and left the hanger.

Char then turned and headed to his own machine. As he approached it, he grinned upon seeing how similar his Geara Zulu was to his old MS-06S Zaku II Commander Type he piloted during the One Year War.

'_One thing is for sure,_' He thought, as he entered the cockpit. '_Those Feddies are going to be shitting bricks_'

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

_**Meanwhile**_

_**On the**_**Argama**

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

The Bridge crew on the AEUG's former flagship were busy at their stations as the ship's new captain, looked on. The person was a woman, wearing a custom dark green colored SoF uniform, with a Federation Officer's cap. She had shoulder length brown hair, in a side loos pony-tail, brown eyes, and appeared to be in her late 20's to early 30's.

The captain was Trisha Hohenheim, a former member of the Earth Federation Forces, however she decided to defect from them upon hearing something she was _not _supposed to hear, something she actually wished she hadn't of heard in the first place.

But, there was no reason to argue about that, for the past was the past. And there was no sense in dwelling upon it. Besides, she had come to learn that the Earth Forces was as corrupt as she and many others had feared, and they must be stopped before things get out of hand like the Titans did.

The fleet of ships had made it to the moon at last, and now the fleet of SoF warships were now hiding inside one of the many crater on the moon, waiting for the federation escort fleet to arrive with their prize. To avoid detection they lowered their ships to as close to the surface of the moon they could. Since they were being careful to not broadcast too much Minovsky Particles, the Federation shouldn't detect them until it was all too late.

"Maureen, anything on the scopes?" Trisha asked one of the Operators, a woman who looked as old as she was, with short ear length rose-red colored hair and dark blue eyes, wearing a bright red and white colored SoF uniform.

"No ma'am, nothing yet." Maureen Kitamura said, "But they should be here soon."

Trisha nodded before turning to the Communications operator, another red-haired girl with blue eyes, only looking to be in her mid-20's "Linda, have Takeshi and the other pilots prepare for combat." She said.

"Yes Captain," Linda Allster said, as she began to communicate with the men and women in the hanger deck.

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

_**Meanwhile**_

_**In the Hanger Bay**_

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

The hanger bay was abuzz with activity as mechanics, clad in light tan colored normal suits rushed to get things ready. In one part of the hanger in the open cockpit of a customized RMS-179 (RGM-79R) GM II, a young man who appeared to be in his mid-20s, with dark brown hair styled in a buzzcut, a fairly bushy moustache, and violet eyes, and wearing a customized dark blue Normal Suit **(Think Setsuna's Normal Suit from the second season of Gundam 00, only in a darker shade of blue and with a helmet more like the AEUG's pilot's helmets)**, only with the helmet currently off, was busy checking the systems of his machine.

Takeshi Yamato smiled as all his systems showed green, indicating that his machine was ready to go. The generator was showing full output, his thrusters were operating at maximum capacity, the head vulcans had a full load, his Beam Sabers and Beam Rifle had no apparent problems, and the Anti-Armor Swords he'd personally designed were freshly polished and sharpened. All in all, the only thing he was worried about was how much longer his trusted machine would last him.

Takeshi had been a member of the Swords of Freedom for about 9 years now; having joined after the truth about the Colony 30 Incident had become public. He'd been a fresh Federation Recruit at the time, training to be a Mobile Suit Pilot and having moved on to Space Training when he'd found out about what happened. Horrified at how the Titans were abusing their position to slaughter peaceful dissidents while the Federation simply sat by and watched, Takeshi had taken a GM II, loaded it in a shuttle, and fled, hoping to maybe get a position as a test pilot for Anaheim Electronics. Pursuit forces had caught up to him near the Shoal Zone, and while he put up a valiant fight, he was vastly outnumbered. He probably would have died if the Swords hadn't saved him, and he ended up joining their ranks, partly out of gratitude and partly because he found himself sympathizing with them after hearing their story.

Ever since that day, he'd continued to fly that same GM II he had taken when he fled the Federation, even though it was now heavily customized to suit his preferences for close-range combat, and painted with a dark blue and black color scheme. And under normal circumstances, he wouldn't consider using any other Mobile Suit.

However, two years ago, Takeshi had awakened as a Newtype, and changing to a new MS became a matter of inevitability—no matter how many modifications he made, eventually it would reach the point where his GM II would no longer be able to keep up with him. He'd keep using it until that point, though, and it hadn't failed him yet.

Takeshi was brought out of his thoughts by Linda's voice echoing over the hangar speakers, saying, "_Attention, all pilots board your machines and prepare for combat. Repeat, all pilots board your machines and prepare for combat._"

Takeshi pulled on the helmet of his Normal Suit as he closed his cockpit hatch, the panoramic monitor of the cockpit coming to life around him as the cockpit sealed. After one last check of his system displays, he activated a communications link to the Bridge and reported, "This is Takeshi Yamato. I'm ready to launch at any time."

Linda's image then appeared on his communications monitor. She smiled wryly as she asked, "_You were already in your machine, weren't you Takeshi?_"

Takeshi's smile turned sheepish as he replied, "You know me, Linda. I need to make sure my machine is at peak condition before entering a battle."

Linda sighed good-naturedly, knowing full well that Takeshi was a hardcore Mobile Suit Otaku, which was part of the reason he'd originally decided to become an MS Pilot. As such, he was meticulous in making sure that his machine was at 100% before every battle, and sometimes even helped the techs maintain everyone else's machines. She'd learned to tolerate it, though, as long as it always brought him back to her safely.

"_Yeah, I know,_" she said. Her expression turned serious as she continued, "_There's no sign of the enemy yet, but Maureen says they'll be here soon, so she wants everyone ready for combat._"

"Roger that," Takeshi replied. "Our first official strike against the Vist Foundation. This is going to be fun."

"_Yeah, it will,_" Linda agreed, before a worried expression appeared on her face. "_Just be careful, okay? I don't want to lose you._"

Takeshi smiled reassuringly at the woman who had captured his heart, just as he had captured her heart. "Don't worry, Linda," he said to her. "I promise you, I will survive and return to you. And when we get back to the Garden, we can celebrate _properly_."

Linda caught onto his meaning and blushed bright red. Ever since they became a couple, he always ended up flirting with her before a big mission. Of course, the subsequent dates after returning to the Garden of Thorns always went off without a hitch, and four years ago, they'd actually gotten married. After that, any pre-mission flirting always ended up with them engaging in _**very pleasurable**_ activities after returning to the Garden.

"_O-okay, then,_" she replied, stuttering slightly as she got herself under control, "_I'll hold you to that, Takeshi._"

Takeshi smiled again. "I love you."

Linda smiled back. "_I love you, too. Good luck out there._"

"Thank you. See you when I get back."

"_Sure thing_."

The comm channel closed, and Takeshi made ready to head to the starboard catapult. He hoped the enemy would get there soon—the sooner they finished this mission, the sooner he could get back to the arms of his wife.

"_You know, you should learn not to flirt with your wife on an open comm, you know Taka?_" A voice said, followed by a short series of laughter causing Takeshi to blush.

"F-Frak..." he said, only causing them to laugh louder as the screen ahead of him showed the face of another pilot on the Argama, a 20 year old man with short military crew cut black hair and green eyes, a smirk all across his face. "_It's just too easy to torment you sometimes Taka,_" Matthew Takeo said, with a chuckle, while Takeshi just glared at him.

"You say anything about that too _anyone, _I'll rig your Zaku to blow during patrol!" He threatened, "That goes for you too Johnny! Yuu, Jack!"

Matt just chucked in the cockpit of his black and gold Zaku V "_Don't worry, we won't._" He said, "_What happens in your sex life is your business._"

"HEY!" Takeshi shouted, causing more laughter to erupt.

"_Aw, leave him alone, Matt," _said another voice as the image of a blonde haired, blue eyed man with a military crew-cut hair, and blue eyes appeared, a smirk on his face, _"Let the man have some _fun_ for once in his life," _

"You're not helping Ridden!" Takeshi shouted, only causing more laughter.

"_Warning, Enemy Fleet approaching!_" Maureen's voice came through the comm, as warning alarms went off "_All hands, battle stations!_"

Everyone became serious at that.

_"No time for more jokes everyone," _came the voice of Yuu Kajima, the former pilot of the Blue Destiny Units, _"It's time to head out and engage, Takeshi, you and me are launching first. Jack, Johnny, Matthew, you follow soon after."_

_"Right!"_ they all said, as their Mobile Suits prepared to mobilize.

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

_**Meanwhile**_

_**EF Escort Fleet**_

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

The fleet of seven earth forces warships slowly flew across the lunar surface, on their way to Von Braun. Among the vessels of the fleet were three _Clop-_class cruisers, a pair of _Salamis Kai-_class Cruisers, an _Antietam-_class Carrier, and finally the _Irish-_class Battleship '_Windermere'._

On the bridge of the _Windermere,_ the captain, a 29 year old man with short military crew cut black hair and green eyes wearing a black Federation Uniform, was growing a bit uneasy. Captain RoccaHevelius has had a bad feeling about this mission ever since he was assigned it. Orders to escort a Prototype Mobile Suit from Grenada too Von Braun. At first, he took it as just another escort mission.

He later regretted thinking that, as soon after High Command transferred a new pilot too the _Windermere, _along with another new mobile suit the pilot was to use. But what had him, and most of the rest of the crew shocked, was the kid was no older than 14 years old, younger than Rocca's own son back on earth.

The Captain protested against having nothing more than what he would consider a 'Child Soldier' on his ship, but he was told they were orders directly from High Command, so he just shut up and went with it. He was told he was the son of one of the Federation's best, and he fought during Char's Rebellion a year ago. That did nothing to sooth his nerves.

Then, there were the other ships. Though he was glad he at least had the three _Clop-_class cruisers, he was disappointed that the only mobile suits they had were outdated GM II's, GM III's and Nemo's, dating all the way back to the first Neo Zeon War. As of now, the _Windermere _had the most advance mobile suits, those being the prototype the kid was piloting, five ReZEL's including a Commander Type, one of which didn't even have a pilot, and two D-Type Jegan's. Not only that, but against his own advice, the Sinanju Stein was being transported on the _Antietam,_ rather than on the more well defended _Windermere._

He was really hoping they were not attacked, otherwise they might not make it to Von Braun in one piece. "Anything on the sensors?" He asked one of the Operators, a man with a bald head and blue eyes.

"No, sir, scopes are still clean," Elvey Bohr said. "Only a bit of Minovsky Interference, but that's all just from the ships."

"Captain, I think you're just being a little paranoid sir." The Ship Pilot, a woman with short green dyed hair with dark brown bangs and brown eyes said. "The Sleeve's wouldn't attack us on their own."

The Captain just sighed as he shook his head "Hatanaka, I served during the Gryps Conflict, and both Neo Zeon Wars, and survived on my gut instincts." He said, "The few times I didn't follow my gut, something bad happened, and commander Bartlett and his team agrees with me."

Hatanaka McNally sighed "I still think your just being paranoid sir." she said, and Rocca said nothing as he continued looking out into space.

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

_**Meanwhile**_

**Windermere **_**Rec Room**_

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

A man with short military crew cut brown hair and brown eyes sighed leaned back into his chair, doing his best not to float back up into Zero Gravity, and looking up at the ceiling. He looked to be in his early forties, and had the look of a veteran who had seen many wars in his life. He was also wearing a black colored Federation Normal suit, with the helmet floating in the zero-g a few inches from him.

He then sat up and looked at the gathered pilots in the room in front of him. There were only four other pilots in the room, four of which were the ones he commanded. The first was the only woman of the group, looking to be 24 years old, with short ear length black hair and brown colored eyes. She was wearing a greyish blue colored flight suit, her own helmet floating around as she was floating a few inches off of a chair, her attention nearly focused entirely on a small red book, with a pen in hand.

She was Kei Nagase, a new pilot for the Federal Forces, however she had plenty of experience. Few months before she joined the _Windermere's_ crew, she was part of a training team doing Zero-G training. But they were attacked by Zeon Remnants, and she was the only one who made it out alive. She managed to defeat the Zeke's almost completely her own.

The second was a man, looking 29 years old, with copper brown in an Elvis-style haircut, light brown eyes. He was wearing a greyish flight suit, while holding his helmet under his arm, all the while listening to some old rock music from the Common Era.

He is Alvin H. Davenport, a pilot from California, back on Earth, who was the unfortunate victim of the Earth Federation's Draft Policy. But, despite being a draftee, and a bit of a troublemaker, Al was a good pilot, as he showed it when he took on a group of 6 Zeon Remnants mobile suits and took them out, ironically, with an old Zaku F2 Type. If anything, he was lucky at least.

The third person in the Rec Room was the second youngest person there, about 19 years old with short light brown hair, and green eyes. He was wearing a light green flight suit, and he was sitting around, looking rather edgy.

Hans Grimm was his name, one of the more fresh recruits. Unlike Alvin, he volunteered for the federal forces since his older brother was already in the Forces as well, and inspired him to join. He was a rookie, but he showed potential in the simulators. Plus, he's been trained by the _Windermere's _chief Mechanic, who was once a pilot from the One Year War and a good friend of Jack's, so at the very least the nugget had promise.

Then finally, came to the last person in the room. Oddly enough it was the person Jack had the most trouble with, a 14 year old boy with short black hair and onyx colored eyes. He was wearing a white normal suit, and he had a cold look in his eyes that no child his age should have, as he sat in the corner of the room holding his helmet in his hands, just staring at it.

Hathaway Noa, Jack had to double-check his name, since he almost didn't believe that he was now commanding the son of the famous one year war veteran Bright Noa, the same kid who reportedly single-handedly took down a massive Neo Zeon mobile armor during the battle of axis in the last Neo Zeon War while using nothing more than a Jegan.

Most people congratulated him on the kill, being a kid with little training downing a Zeon Mobile Armor like that. However whenever anyone brings up the subject, he just glares at them and leaves. It just continued to confuse Jack, and it confused him even more that he was still in the Federation, and now piloting the newest addition to their M.S Complement, an ARX-014 Silver Bullet Gundam Type.

All of this just made Jack continue to believe the Captain was right when it came to their 'bad feeling' about the mission. If the one year war had taught Jack anything, it's that you should always trust your gut feeling.

As he continued his own musings, Alvin, or also more well known by his call-sign 'Chopper', moved over to Grimm's location "Hey Kid, calm down would ya?" He said, "You look like you think the whole ships about to blow up!"

"I know, but..." Grimm, aka 'Archer' said, "But...I keep getting this feeling something bad'sgonna happen."

"You're being paranoid," Chopper said with a shrug, "Sure we could get attacked, but we can handle it! We have the training! Not to mention the rest of the fleet is with us!"

Nagase, AKA Edge, looked at Chopper and gave a reprimanding look, "Don't go and start jinxing us now Chopper," she said, "It could still happen,"

"I'm not saying it won't," Chopper said, "I'm just saying we can handle it if it does happen!" He then glanced at Hathaway, "But honestly, I'm more worried about the kid over there." he whispered, to be sure Hathaway couldn't hear him. "Someone his age shouldn't be in the military."

Nagase sighed a bit "Yeah..." she said, "But what can-"

However, she was cut off as alarms started going off in the room, causing everyone's heads to snap forward "_All hands! All Hands! Level One Battlestations! This is not a drill! Repeat: This is not a drill!_"

"Damnit!" Jack shouted, as he grabbed his helmet "Alright, everyone to the hanger, and move it!" The others nodded, as they quickly made their way out of the Rec Room.

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

_**Meanwhile**_

_**On the bridge**_

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

Captain Hevelius swore after the operator reported a fleet of ships appeared out of nowhere from a crater "Damnit, I hate it when I'm right," he said, "What's the enemy fleet composition?"

"Ten ships sir!" Elvey said, "Identifying...three _Musaka-_class, one _Endra-_class, two _Musai-_class, an unknown, a _Tivvay_-class, and...huh?"

"What is it?" Rocca asked.

"Sir...I'm also seeing the _Rewloola,_ and an _Argama-_class in the fleet." Elvey said, surprising the entire bridge crew.

The Captain's eyes narrowed "The _Rewloola..._" he said, "Char's old flagship from his rebellion...and the _Argama_has been MIA ever since the Dublin Colony Drop...how did they get it?"

"Heat sources approaching! Launching from enemy fleet!"Elvey said.

"Missiles?"

"No sir, judging from their flight pattern, their Mobile suits!" He said, before blinking as he looked at the screen. "What the...what is this?"

Rocca was not liking the look his operator had "Elvey, what is it?" he asked.

"Sir...one of the machines just accelerated ahead of the others." He said, "And it's moving fast! It's..." then his eyes widened "Oh god..."

"What's wrong?" Rocca asked, as his gut was beginning to preform back-flips at the same time.

"Sir...the...the lead machine..." he said, looking at the captain with fear-struck eyes "It's...it's moving at t-t-three t-times the speed of the others."

**(Begin Playing: 'DEJA-VU' from Ace Combat: Assault Horizon OST)**

The others all gawked at him, while Rocca's face paled.

_'No...it's impossible. It can't be him! He died a year ago!' _he thought, as memories of the One Year War came back to him, most important, the Battle of Loum.

"Please tell me you are seeing things!" he said with a panicked voice.

"Sir...I wish I was." Elvey said, shaking his head.

Rocca then let loose a swarm of curses as he grabbed the phone on the chair "Jack! Where the hell are you?" He shouted. "I need you to launch your squadron NOW!"

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

_**Meanwhile**_

_**In the hanger**_

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

"Whoa, calm down captain!" Jack said, as he got into the cockpit of his RGZ-95C ReZEL Commander Type. "We're about to launch now, what's the matter?"

_"What's the matter!? I'll tell you what's the matter! It's Char Aznable, that's what's the matter!" _Rocca said, and Jack's eyes widen in shock.

"Are you SHITTING ME!?" he yelled causing his team to look at him in confusion, "But he's supposed to K.I.A.!"

"_Try telling HIM that!_" Rocca shouted back, "_The other ships are already deploying every mobile suit they have, but frankly I don't think we stand a chance. We need to haul our asses to Von Braun NOW!_"

"Sir, you know as well as I do that if the Red Comet is really here, we'll need more than outdated GM's and Nemo's!" Jack shouted, back, his words causing the eyes of the other pilots to widen. However Hathaway's quickly narrowed as he entered the Silver Bullet.

"_I know Jack,_" Rocca said, "_But we have to get the Sinanju out of here, we're not leaving it for Neo Zeon, especially if Char really is still alive. I don't even want to think of what he could do if he had the Sinanju. If anything, we'll have to destroy it, as much as Anaheim will bitch about that._"

Jack sighed "Understood, we'll launch and do our best." he said, and then turned to his team, "Alright everyone! Get into your machines into position and prepare to...Ensign Noa!" Jack shouted out as he saw the Silver Bullet already loading itself onto the catapult.

"Ensign, hold on! Wait for the rest of the team!" he said, but the Mobile suit continued on.

"Uhhh, I don't think he heard you sir," Chopper said, and Jack just growled.

"Damnit...everyone prepare to launch!" He shouted, and the others nodded as they prepared their own ReZEL's. Meanwhile in the Silver Bullet, Hathaway's eyes were as cold as ice as he lined his mobile suit into the catapult. His mind thinking of a young girl with blue hair in pony tails.

'_Char...if it wasn't for him, Quess would still be alive..._' he thought, before letting out a small growl '_I'm gonna finish the job Amuro started!_'

When the lights on the catapult turned green, he brought down the visor too his helmet "Hathaway Noa, Gundam Silver Bullet, Launching!" He shouted, as the Gundam type launched from the battleship.

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

_**Meanwhile**_

_**With Char**_

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

Char lead the others in his Geara Zulu, approaching the earth forces fleet. "All units, this is it." He said, "Stay close, and watch each other's backs! The Sinanju is supposed to be onboard the _Antietam-_class, so just try to disable it!"

He heard many 'Roger's' as the mixed group of Neo Zeon and SoF Mobile suits, with Char in the lead way ahead of them, accelerated toward the Federation Fleet, which the warships have already launched their own mobile suits. He looked through their M.S, and as expected, they were armed with GM-II's, GM-III's, Nemo's and...

Char's eyes narrowed seeing a very familiar type of Mobile Suit launch from the _Irish-_class. "A Gundam..." he said, "Intel didn't say anything about a Gundam being here."

"_An ARX-014 Silver Bullet actually,_" Zar's voice came through as his custom Mobile suit, the SFMS-20 Gwaze Fury, "_But close enough, but it looks like we've also got some ReZEL's and Jegans..._"

Char's eyebrow rose at that, "ReZELs?" he asked.

"_They're the successor unit to the Re-GEZ that Amuro piloted,_" Zar answered, "_They can transform into a mobile armor, and can fly in both space and the Atmosphere of Earth. I've fought them before, don't take them lightly Char._"

Char grinned "Don't worry, I can handle them." He said, before turning serious again. "Alright, everyone, Begin the operation!"

All of the mobile suits agreed, as they moved in to attack. Char's fist victim of the day was a GM II, who tried to take Char on in close combat, clearly thinking he wasn't the real Red Comet.

He quickly proved him wrong, by using his Zulu's speed to appear behind the GM, and slice it in half with his beam tomahawk. He then back up as the machine detonated, and spun around slicing another GM II's head off. The GM tried to fire its beam rifle blind, but Char easily avoided the shot as he sliced the machine's arms off.

Kicking the now disabled GM away, his senses began acting up, demanding him to dodge. He did so, and avoid a pair of beams that were shot at him. He looked towards the source, and saw the Silver Bullet Gundam approaching him, approaching at max speed.

"Well now, it seems whoever is piloting this thing clearly has some beef with me," Char said as he readied his tomahawk as the Silver Bullet bore down on him, Beam saber drawn.

However, as they got closer, the Silver Bullet then detached its beam saber hand, and launched it forward at Char's Zulu. Char brought up his beam hawk in time, however the Silver Bullet then drew out a second beam saber in its other hand, and launched it forward. Char had to back up to avoid being stabbed by the second saber.

The pilot then recalled both of its arms to the Silver Bullet, and putting one beam saber away, it attacked again, while firing his palm beam cannon. Char returned the favor by drawing his beam SMG and fired it back, however the Silver Bullet dodged the attack, but continued the charge.

Once again, their beam weapons collided as the two units faced off, "_It's your fault!_" The pilot shouted, and Char was confused by how young the voice sounded. "_If it wasn't for you, Quess might still be alive! It's your fault she died!_"

Char blinked in surprise '_Quess?_' he thought, before the Silver Bullet tried to fire its palm cannon again, however Char knocked the hand away as he kicked the Silver Bullet back.

Then reacting quickly, he pressed a few buttons, opening a channel to the Gundam Type Mobile Suit.

"To the pilot of the ARX-014 Silver Bullet," Char began, "Who are you? And how do you know Quess Paraya?"

He then felt the pilot scowl as the Mobile Suit lunged at him, _"So you don't remember me, huh!? Well, let me refresh your memory for you!" _the pilot yelled as he fired his palm cannon, _"My name is Hathaway!"_

"Hathaway..." Char said, recalling where he heard that name while deflecting the shots off of his shield, before his eyes widened "Wait...Bright Noa's son?"

"_Yes!_" Hathaway shouted, as he launched his wire-guided fist forward in a punch "_It's your fault Quess died! If she didn't join you, she'd still be alive! She wouldn't have gotten involved!_"

Char blocked the incoming hand with his shield as Hathaway charged at him again.

_'Shit! Just great, that spoiled girl had to have an_ admirer,' he cursed to himself,_ 'and it's Bright's son of all people!'_

However, as the Silver Bullet prepared to attack again, a series of beams blasted between the two. Both Char and Hathaway looked towards the source, and saw the NZ-666 Kyshatria approaching them, its Funnels active and firing. Following behind it was Zar in his Gwaze Fury and Angelo Sauper, firing his Bruno Kai beam cannon. "_Commander, we'll deal with him._" Angelo said on the comm, "_You worry about boarding that transport and getting the Prototype!_"

Char nodded "Right, but try not to kill him, and capture his machine." he said, before speeding his Geara Zulu away. Hathaway tried to give chase, however another series of beams from Kyshatria's Funnels stopped him.

"Get the hell outta of my way!" he yelled, as he threw out the Silver Bullet's wired guided hand in a punch at the Kyshatria, only for it to be blocked by the Neo Zeon mobile suit.

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

_**Meanwhile**_

_**With Takeshi**_

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

Part of Takeshi's mind was in awe of how skilled Char was in a Mobile Suit. He'd heard the stories, true, but seeing him in action showed that the stories weren't exaggerated. If anything, the stories were _**understated**_.

Of course, Takeshi quickly shook off his awe and returned to his own battle, having just used his swords to slice the arms and legs off of a Nemo, forcing it to return to its mothership.

He might have been considered a softie, but Takeshi never really liked killing ordinary soldiers, who only fought because they were just following orders. He knew there were circumstances where he had no choice but to kill, but he would rather disarm his opponents if given the chance.

He disarmed another couple of Nemos rather quickly, and was moving in on a Federation GM II when his Newtype senses screamed at him, prompting him to do a quick backflip, which caused a beam fired at him from the right to sail harmlessly past him.

Turning in that direction, Takeshi saw a ReZEL, colored black with white trim, lowering its Beam Rifle slightly from the shot it just fired. As it brought its rifle up to target him again, Takeshi went into action, flying straight at the ReZEL even as he avoided its next few shots. When he got close enough, he attempted to slice off its right arm, but the suit dodged at the last second, meaning that all he managed to do was cut its rifle in two.

As the ReZEL discarded the now useless rifle and drew a Beam Saber, Takeshi heard a male voice over the radio, from what was presumably the ReZEL's pilot.

"_I have fought many pirates and Neo Zeon soldiers over my career,_" the voice said. "_And in all that time, you are the only one who has managed to destroy my rifle. You might just be…_"

The ReZEL activated its Beam Saber with a flourish, as the pilot finished, "_…a Worthy Opponent!_"

The ReZEL charged, and Takeshi charged as well, his Anti-Armor Longsword clashing with his opponent's Beam Saber. Takeshi slashed with his Short Sword, only for the ReZEL to block with its second Beam Saber.

"Is that so?" he said, unknowing that he had his comm on an open channel, "And who the hell are you?"

He then felt the pilot smirk as he answered, _"Graham Aker, a man who is looking for an opponent who will give me a REAL challenge,"_

Takeshi didn't know why, but he grinned himself, "Well then, if it's a challenge you want, it's a challenge you'll get!" He said, as he forced the ReZEL back. However Graham then fired his forearm mounted grenade launcher, forcing Takeshi to drop his Longsword and take out his shield to block the shots as the grenades exploded.

Casting aside the shield, Takeshi drew one of his beam sabers, now holding his short sword in his right hand and a beam saber in his left. Takeshi then charged again, however Graham took out his own shield and began firing the shield's beam gun at Takeshi as he approached.

Takeshi weaved and flew through the shots, however one lucky hit got Takeshi's GM in the left shoulder, damaging it, but the arm was still intact as he struck once again, slicing the ReZEL's shield arm off.

However, this is what Graham was waiting for as he used that opportunity to slice off the GM's right arm. "Frak!" Takeshi shouted as he backed off, and raised his beam saber just in time to catch Graham's own attack. Takeshi then kicked the ReZEL away, and used his beam saber to slice off the ReZEL's last arm.

But Graham wasn't finished yet, as he fired his head vulcans of his mobile suit into Takeshi's already damaged left shoulder, the rounds finishing the job rendering Takeshi's left arm useless.

Now, both units disarmed with nothing other than their head vulcans, just stared at one another "_In all my years, I never thought I would find someone who could beat me to a draw..._" Graham said.

Takeshi himself chuckled "Hey, you're the first person I've met who's given me a challenge, so the feeling's mutual." he said.

"_I suppose so,_" Graham said with a chuckle "_If I may ask, what's your name?_"

Takeshi was silent for a moment, before answering "Takeshi," he said, "Takeshi Yamato."

"_I see,_" he said, "_Well...I look forward to seeing you again, Takeshi Yamato._" And with that, the ReZEL turned around, and returned to its mother ship.

Takeshi sighed, and then checked the status of his mobile suit.

"Okay, left arm inoperable...weapons fried, yep, I'm done for the day," he said, and then contacted the _Argama_, "Yamato to _Argama_, my GM's left arm is out of commission and my weapons, with the exception of my head vulcans, are toast. I'm returning to the ship,"

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

_**Meanwhile**_

_**With Char**_

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

Char and his Geara Zulu soon found the targeted ship where the Sinanju Stein was located. Shin Matsunaga in his Hizack HM Type was beside him "Alright, let's do this." Char said, as he activated his beam tomahawk, and began cutting out an opening for him to use.

It took him a few minutes for him to cut a hole big enough for a MS the size of the Zeong into the _Antietam-_class transport, and Char went inside as Shin stood guard outside the hole.

_"Hurry up Char! I'm not planning to make a repeat of A Boa Qu that I barely survived," _Shin said as he sliced a GM III's head off.

"Well noted," Char said as he looked inside the interior of the transport as crewmembers in normal suits rushed to get out of his way. He then grinned as he saw the prize he came for, "Bingo,"

There it was, the MSN-06S Sinanju Stein. Char could easily see the inspiration from both the Nu Gundam and the Sazabi in its construction, more so on the Sazabi than anything.

After setting up his Geara Zulu to self-detonate on a timer, he exited the cockpit and activated his normal suit's flight pack to move towards the Sinanju. '_You'd think they would have had this thing more well-guarded on the ship_' he thought as he approached the cockpit of the unit. He then opened the cockpit, and moved in, sitting down into his seat.

He then began putting it through its start-up sequence, making sure it was all working properly. '_Reactor's good, engines good, Propellant, already full, and she's fully armed._' Char grinned as the Sinanju's eyes light up. "Let's go."

Shin just decapitated another Nemo, just as a beam blasted open another hole in the side of the transport. He looked just in time to see the Sinanju Stein walk out.

"About time!" Shin shouted, "Now hurry up, we gotta go!"

"_No, we have to keep them from following us._" Char said, "_I'll take care of the ships, disable their engines and weapons._"

Shin nodded in agreement, "Right let's take care of them," he said and the two mobile suits headed out, just 3 seconds before the Geara Zulu exploded taking the _Antietam _with it.

Shin looked back at the explosion that was the _Antietam, _"Do you always do that every time you steal a new mobile suit?" he asked.

_"Not all the time," _Char said with a shrug.

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

_**Meanwhile**_

_**On the bridge of the **_**Windermere**

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

Captain RoccaHevelius grit his teeth as the bridge crew continued to shout out status reports on their mobile suits, and the rest of the fleet. Their situation, summarized into one phrase, was FUBAR.

They had already lost their _Salamis _escorts, and one of their _Clop-_class ships was heavily damaged. The other mobile suits were putting up some fight, but they were getting swarmed by the Neo Zeon forces. The _Windermere's _own M.S were putting up a better fight, but even Jack was having trouble fighting them off. And Hathaway was all off on his own, fighting off two unknown Zeon Mobile Suits.

_'Shit! At this rate, there won't even be a fleet to get to Von Braun,' _he thought, _'How can things get any worse?' _

"Sir! The _Antietam_ has gone down! And the Sinanju has been hijacked!" Elvey shouted in alarm, while Rocca cursed his luck.

'_I stand corrected. It **HAS **gotten worse!' _he thought. He then watched as the Sinanju approached one of the last _Clop-_class ships, and fired its Mega Beam Rifle. The rifle's power blasted clean through the ship, blasting it to oblivion.

A trio of GM's tried to take him from behind with their beam sabers, however Char simply drew out a beam saber and sliced the first GM in half. He used his shield to deflect the attack of the second one, and kicked the third GM away. He then stabbed his beam saber into the cockpit of the GM. Just as the last GM attempted to attack, he was quickly blown to bits when Char fired off his beam rifle again, blasting not just the GM, but the second _Clop-_class cruiser behind it.

Then, he turned his attention towards the _Windermere, _Rocca ordered the AA/AMS defenses to hit him, but he knew it was pointless as the _Irish-_class was unfortunately under-armed when it came to CIWS weapons. All they could do was watch helplessly as Char destroyed each and every cannon on the _Windermere,_ until the Sinanju Stein now floated in front of the bridge. The bridge crew braced for their end, and the captain's eyes just narrowed as he watched the Sinanju point its Beam Rifle.

However, Char never fired the weapon. Instead, he holstered the weapon, and sped off towards the Neo Zeon fleet.

"Wha- Why didn't he finish us off?" The pilot of the ship said in surprise, while Rocca watched as the Sinanju returned to its mother ship.

"Char may be a skilled and relentless ace pilot, Midori," Rocca said, "But he's not cruel, we're defenseless, Char doesn't simply attack an unarmed opponent." He then sighed, "Call back all mobile suits, and see if we can find survivors...we're getting out of here."

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_**

**_Meanwhile_**

**_With Hathaway_**

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_**

Hathaway cursed as he heard that the Sinanju was stolen as he continued fighting against the Neo Zeon mobile suit, with the Kyshatria getting on his nerves as the funnels kept him on his toes.

"Dammit! What a total screw-up!" he said, while blocking a beam saber strike from the Kyshatria, and then dodging a shot from Angelo's cannon.

In the Kyshatria Cockpit, Marida would have to admit the pilot of the Silver Bullet was well skilled. If anything, he was a developing Newtype. That was when she got the communication from Char, telling them to withdraw, along with one last order "Understood sir," she said, as she stepped up her attack.

Suddenly, two funnel beams blasted the Silver Bullet's legs off, distracting Hathaway long enough for Marida to move in, and deliver a punch into the cockpit of the machine, knocking out Hathaway in the process.

Then the Neo Zeon mobile suit grabbed the Silver Bullet and proceeded to head back to the ship.

"This is Lieutenant Cruz," Marida said, "Silver bullet has been captured. Returning to the ship,"

"_Excellent Work,_" Char said, "_All units, we have what we came for. Time to withdraw before E.F reinforcements arrive._"

"Roger, returning to the _Garencieres_." Marida said, as the Kyshatria and the other Zeon Units returned.

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_**

**_Later_**

**Rewloola**

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_**

The entire operation was a shocking success, there were no casualties on Neo Zeon's part aside from some damaged mobile suits. Now the Swords of Freedom/Neo Zeon fleet were heading towards another hide out where they would be safe. Zar said it was unwise to head back to their main base in the Garden of Thorns, since there was always the chance the Federation could be following them. Char agreed, and thankfully Captain Zinnerman of the_Garencieres_ had a valid alternative.

Which was why the fleet was now approaching the Palau Asteroid. It was a civilian mining asteroid originally belonging too Side 6, however Gründer had relocated the asteroid too their L4 colonies. Since the one year war, Palau has been the home to numerous Zeon Remnants in space and their families. And it has proved to be a very useful hide-out for Neo Zeon as well.

The small fleet of ships landed in the port of the asteroid base, and the crews disembarked, while the still unconscious form of Hathaway was taken to the Base Infirmary where he will be watched. Zinnerman then led the officers who led the operation to the main office of the base, while the rest were given shore leave to relax.

They eventually found themselves in the civilian block of the colony, traveling the rest of the way by car. They drove through the colony until they reached a large palace-like structure in the middle of the colony.

Char raised an eyebrow at the sight of the palace, and turned to Nanai and Zinnerman, both of whom shrugged "The last commander of Palau was an old Zeon Loyalist from the Principality, and an architect." Zinnerman answered, "Its overkill I know, but I'm not the one who built it."

The Red Comet sighed as the car stopped, and they disembarked, entering the palace. They moved through the corridors until they reached a pair of doors guarded by two Zeon Soldiers, who saluted them as they approached.

Char and the others returned their salutes as the doors opened, and they walked into the room. The office itself was large, elaborate, and decorated room **(You know what it looks like if you've seen MSG Unicorn episode 2).** At the end of the room, there was a large desk, which lied beneath two banners, one having the symbol of the Principality of Zeon, the second bearing the symbol of Neo Zeon.

In the room there were already three individuals, one was Nasha, while the other two he's never seen before.

One was a man of African American descent, wearing a pair of glasses over his brown eyes, and in his late thirties. He was wearing a tan version of the SoF uniform.

The other man appeared to 34 years old, had graying black hair, and blue eyes. He was also wearing the same colored uniform as the other one.

"Ah, Char! Zar! Good to see you all made it back in one piece," Nasha said with a smile "And your mission was a success!"

"No casualties on our side aside from some damaged suits." Char said, "I'd say this was one of my more successful missions...anyways, who are they?" he gestured too the two officers.

Nasha smiled as she introduced them, first starting with the African-American.

"This is former Earth Federation Rear Admiral Michael Kowen. He's the commander of one our fleets here in space," She then motioned to the other officer, "And this is former EFF Captain Andrew Synapse. They're both sons of two of the Earth Federation's best highest ranking before that bastard Jamitov's purge of the EFF, and the Rise of the Titans," she said.

Char nodded, as he could recall those names easily. Eiphar Synapse was the first captain of the MSC-07 _Albion,_ and served during the Delaz Fleet Crisis, disobeying orders to save lives, while John Kowen was a colonel who served during the same conflict. If he hadn't been stopped by Jamitov, John very easily could have stopped the Colony Drop. "A pleasure to meet both of you." he said.

"Same here," Andrew said, with a grin "It's an honor to meet the Red Comet in person...I can't help but find this whole situation a bit ironic though, my father tried to stop Zeon Remnants from destroying the Federation, and now I'm helping them bring it down."

Char had to sigh at that, "Yep, truly ironic," he said, and everyone sat down, and debriefing on the successful capture of the Sinanju Stein, and the capture of one of Anaheim's ARX-014 Silver Bullets along with its pilot, Hathaway Noa.

That part made Nasha's, and the two Former EFF Officers' eyes widen in disbelief.

"Bright Noa's son? But he's only 14!" Andrew said, clear shock on his face, while Char nodded.

"He is," he said, "But apparently the Vist Foundation must know about his Newtype Potential, and are using his hatred against Zeon to keep him fighting for the federation, since he holds Zeon responsible for Quess' death."

"Quess?" Nanai asked, surprised "You mean Quess Paraya, as in that spoiled girl you recruited during the Axis Drop?"

"Yup, the same." Char said with a sigh "Turns out Hathaway was something of an _admirer _of Quess..."

Everyone sighed in exasperation at that, as Nanai rubbed the bridge of her nose.

"Oh brother...," she said, "You gotta blame teenage hormones, they make people his age do and think crazy shit,"

Many of the women nodded in agreement at that.

"Amen to that, sister," Trisha said, as she had seen this type of behavior before back with the Federation.

Michael sighed "Well, what are we gonna do with him?" he asked.

"We might be able to get him to side with us," Andrew said, "Though it's unlikely, maybe we could get him to see reason."

"If he is anything like his father it will be tough," Shin said, "Not to mention the Captain will be looking for him, along with the entire Londo Bell Task Force since he's the overall commander,"

Everyone nodded in agreement at that. Even though Bright was strict on military protocol, he was still a father.

Nasha then spoke up, "I'll have Scarlett keep an eye on things in the Federation. Since she's a Counter-Intelligence agent in ECOAS after all...," she said as Char raised an eyebrow at that.

"ECOAS?" he asked, not familiar with the term.

"Earth Colony Asteroud, or ECOAS for short." Trisha answered, "Their a newly formed special forces team that works with Londo Bell, made for the purpose of hunting down Zeon Remnants." she then grinned a bit "But, what they don't know is that numerous members of ECOAS are actually agents of the Swords of Freedom."

"They've been helping us evade Londo Bell and the Federation after our rebellion one year ago," Nanai said, "They played a role in helping SoF finding your location as well, and helping us find Zeon Remnants who are more for following Gihren's Doctrine so we can...take care of them, separating them from Zeon Remnants who will help our own mission."

Shin then smiled as he nudged Johnny in the ribs, "And Crimson Lightning here," he said, "Has a girlfriend among them. She was the one who found where you were,"

Johnny blushed a bit that, but smiled, "Yeah, that's her true specialty," he said, "Aside from being a gifted mobile suit pilot, since she managed to become the only Triple Digit Ace of the Earth Federation before the One Year War ended,"

Char blinked in surprise at that, "Who is she?"

"Veronica O'hara," Nasha answered, "Also known by her code name 'Scarlett'. She's one of our best pilots, and could probably give both you and Amuro a run for your money in a one-on-one battle. But she specializes more in counter-intelligence. She joined us around the same time as the Gryps Conflict."

Char's eyes widened as he remembered the name.

"Wait, I remember reading a report of a red and black GM Space Command Type destroying a 100 mobile suits, and two Chivvay-class heavy cruisers before the Battle of Solomon ended," he said, "And the name of that pilot was Veronica O'Hara, aka, The Scarlett Amazon,"

"Yup, that would be her." Nasha said with a grin "She's was a firm supporter of independence for the colonies, but she hated how the Zabi's were going about it."

Char smiled a bit "Well, remind me the next time she's either at the Garden of Thorns or here at Palau that I should give her my personal thanks." he said.

Everyone nodded at that.

"So Char, how was it piloting the Sinanju Stein?" Nasha said, and Char's response was the big smile on his face.

"I loved it!" he said. "It was like I was piloting an enhanced version of the Sazabi, I've never felt so in tune with another mobile suit, of course, I still need to make some personal upgrades and modifications...namely the paint job, white on black simply is _not _my style."

Everyone laughed at that, knowing Char's love for the color Red.

"Hey, I don't have a problem with it!" Zar said, "In fact, it will be just like old times," he put a hand on Char's shoulder, grinning "The Red Comet, and the Devil of Loum, back in action! The Feddie's aren't gonna know what hit them! ...no offense," he said, directed at Trisha, Michael, and Andrew.

"None Taken," the three said, clearly having no more love for the Federation.

Nasha smiled, "Well, in that case," she said and she picked up, what looked like a cooler case, and placed it on the desk, "I think it's about right to officially celebrate your return, and the debut of the Swords of Freedom as well,"

She then opened the case, and pulled what looked like a bottle of cognac. Zar just grinned "I just love the way you think Nasha." He said.

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_**

**_Later_**

**_With the _Windermere**

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_**

The mood on the _Windermere _was a somber one, almost all of the fleet had been destroyed with the exception of the _Windermere _and a single _Clop-_class, however the latter ship was so badly damaged the crew had to abandon ship, and were now on the _Windermere._ The ship's mobile suit complement was on overtime, taking in additional Mobile Suits that survived the encounter. It was very crowded in the hanger bay now, and outside mobile suits who couldn't fit in were resting on top of the ship itself, acting as defenses now that almost all of the _Windermere's _defensive armaments and cannons were now destroyed.

Captain Hevelius sighed on the bridge, as they made their way to Von Braun. Today was just turning out worse and worse. They lost the fleet, the Sinanju Stein, dozens of mobile suits, and they even lost Hathaway and the Silver Bullet.

He knew he was gonna get an earful from High Command, as well as Hathaway's father, who happens to be the overall commander of the Londo Bell Task Force.

_'I just can't _wait_ for that to happen,' _he thought sarcastically, as the wounded _Irish_-class continued on its way to the Lunar City. '_And High Command is going to just LOVE the fact the Red Freaking Comet is alive and kicking with the Sinanju under his control now._'

Rocca heard the door open, and he turned around to see Jack Bartlett enter the bridge "Jack, how does it look?" he asked, and Jack sighed.

"Bad, but it could have been a lot worse." he said, "All of the _Windermere's _cannons and defenses are blasted, and a lot of our suits have been damaged. Wardog thankfully took less of the damage, but most of the other suits we've taken in have either lost a limb or are too damaged to do much fighting. If we get attacked again, we're not gonna make it."

"We're almost at Von Braun now," the captain said, "I don't think Char would attack us this close to the city."

Jack sighed again "I still can't believe it..." he said, "Char Aznable is still alive..."

Rocca nodded as he thought of the man who was supposed to have died after his Rebellion fell apart.

"Well, if he could survive A Boa Qu, he could sure as hell have survived Axis," he said, and then sighed, "But we'll try to find out he cheated death later. Right now, we have to offload our wounded, get our Mobile Suits fixed up, and all our defense systems replaced,"

Jack nodded in agreement. "Yeah, but truth be told the _Windermere _took a hell of a beating," he said, "It'll take months to get her repaired and back to the way she was before."

"Captain, I'm picking up three ships approaching our position! _Salamis Kai-_class!"Elvey reported, "Revealing Federation IFF's. I'm also picking up a transmission from the lead ship."

Rocca nodded "Patch 'em through," he said, as the front screen then showed a man wearing a Captain's uniform, on the bridge of a _Salamis-_class. "_Captain Hevelius, what the hell happened to your ship!_" The captain asked, "_And where is the rest of the fleet?_"

Rocca sighed "We were attacked by Neo Zeon Remnants, in force." he said, "The rest of the fleet was destroyed in the battle, and the Sinanju Stein was hijacked."

The Captain's eyes narrowed a bit "_High Command isn't going to enjoy hearing that,_" he said, and Rocca just glared.

"Well, Intel never said anything about fighting a Neo Zeon fleet of ten ships, which included the _Argama _and _Rewloola,_ and they sure as hell didn't say anything about Char Aznable leading said fleet!"

The man's eyes widen at that, "_U-Uuhh, I-I'm sorry, what was that last part? Because I thought I heard you say something about Char Aznable?" _

Rocca could only glare at him, "I. Am. Fucking. SERIOUS!" he yelled the last word. "He's back! Char Aznable still alive! The bastard destroyed two Clop ships on his own, along with multiple mobile suits! Don't believe me? Then watch the battle footage we got!"

The Salamis captain paled, clearly haven seen how Char was able to take down whole FLEETs of ships without batting an eyelash.

_"Holy shit...Hurry and dock in Von Braun! We need to report this as soon as possible," _he said in a panicky voice.

"I agree, and we'll have to inform Londo Bell as soon as possible," Rocca said, with narrowed eyes. "Another Neo Zeon War is on the horizon, and we're gonna need all of the help we can get."

With that, the _Windermere _and its new escorts began their journey to Von Braun, to inform the Federation that their worst fears have now come true.

**_0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0_**

**117Jorn: Boom! And Chapter 2 is DONE!**

**Patriot-112: Yep! And as you can see! Johnny Ridden has a new Love Interest! To see her profile, go to Jorn's Swords of Change Forum.**

**117Jorn: Yup! And if you have ideas for SoC, those being either Ships, Mobile Weapons, future events, organizations and factions, please let us know on the Forum!**

**Patriot-112: Also, special thanks to Takeshi Yamato in this chapter, he helped us quite a bit in it!**

**Takeshi Yamato: Hey, no problem! I enjoyed helping out. And hey, if you're enjoying this story so far, go take a look at Mobile Suit Gundam SEED Evolution, another of Jorn's stories that I'm helping with. And if you want to see a fun Gundam Crossover even if it is rated M, check out my own story, Mobile Suit Gundam Xenosaga. And you'll be interested to know that Jorn has actually started helping me with it, and is even writing a Fanfiction-equivalent of an OVA to go along with it! :D**

**117Jorn: That's right! That one will be up sometime soon.  
**

**Patriot-112: So until next time...  
**

**Everyone: JA NE!  
**


	3. Chapter 3: Nightmares

_**November 12th 0094**_

_**One Week after Sinanju Theft**_

_**Luna II, ECOAS H.Q**_

* * *

An explosion erupted as the hanger doors of the ECOAS headquarters on Luna II exploded, and not two minutes later a single RGM-89De Jegan (ECOAS Type) flew out of the hanger. In the cockpit was a woman, wearing the standard issue normal pilot suit of the ECOAS, who appeared 24 years old, with red eyes and strands of reddish orange hair poking from inside her helmet. She gritted her teeth as the Base's defenses attempted to shoot her down.

"_There she is, get her!_"

"_Get that Bitch!_"

"_She's a traitor, shoot her down!_"

The Comm channels were filled with such chatter, as additional Federation M.S launched from the base, all of them hunting down the single Jegan Pilot.

'_Shit! Of all the times to have my cover blown, why did it have to be today!?' _she cursed mentally as a duo of Stark Jegans in the ECOAS paint scheme accelerated after her. She took a moment to look at the data disk she had tucked in one of her normal suit's pockets, she knew she had to get this info into the Swords' hands, or it will be curtains for everyone in space and on Earth.

"_All Units, I have her position!_" a voice shouted, as the woman darted her head around as she saw two Jegan D-types approach from behind. "_She's heading out at grid mark zero point zero five! Orders?_"

"_Engage, and aim to kill!_" came another voice. "_If you can, though, take her in alive!_"

'_These assholes don't even know I'm listening in on their comm. channels!' _she thought as she accelerated her commandeered Jegan even further. She then looked for a place where she could at least hide out. Since the Earth Sphere was littered with debris and wrecks from the wars, she could find a derelict ship or colony to hide in.

The sensors of the Jegan managed to pick up something, she zoomed in on it, and saw it was a mini-debris field, a handful of wrecked Federation and Zeon MS and Ships inside. It seemed like a decent enough place to hide, but first she had to deal with the two Jegans following her.

She grinned as she decided to do an old trick from her One Year War days. And began to ease up, allowing the two Jegans to slowly approach.

"_What the hell? She's slowing down!" _said one of the pilots.

"_Which means an easy kill for us!" _said the second pilot as they fired their beam rifles at the ECOAS type Jegan who managed to evade their shots.

'_Not yet...Not yet...' _the woman pilot said to herself as the two Federation suits got even closer. Just when one got a beat on her, she sprung her trap, _'NOW!' _

With that, that, she hit her thrusters full reverse, causing the two Jegan Type-Ds to pass right by her.

"_What the hell?_" The first Jegan pilot shouted, as she raised her Beam rifle, and let loose with a full barrage of beam rounds into the first Jegan, the pilot not even having the time to raise a shield as it was destroyed in a ball of fire. She wasted no time before she drew out a beam saber, and charged towards the second Jegan, using its shock and confusion to slice the Mobile Suit in half.

Once both suits were defeated, she immediately punched it towards the debris field, Federation Comm channels littered with reports and demands of what was happening.

She arrived at the debris field, just as the reinforcements, four Jegan Type-Ds and an Enhanced Armored Jegan arrived and found the two destroyed Federal mobile suits.

"_Shit! Dumb bastards got cocky!" _said one of the Jegan D pilots.

"_She couldn't have gone far,_" the pilot of the Armored Jegan said. "_Contact Luna II, and begin a sweep of the area! That Traitor isn't getting away alive!_"

With that the five mobile suits spread out into a search pattern with the Enhanced Armored Jegan heading into the Debris field.

With said traitor, whose Mobile Suit was in a derelict _Magellan-_class, was panting as she checked her scanner, watching as a single suit moved past her position, not even detecting her.

She sighed a bit as she began shutting off unnecessary systems of her suit, powering it down to minimal to avoid being detected, the only systems staying on was her sensors, and oxygen supply. She then sighed as she leaned back in her mobile suit's seat.

She then remembered how her cover was blown when she discovered something that made her blood run cold, and then was spotted by a passing ECOAS Agent. She had no choice but to kill him, head to hanger, stole a Mobile suit, and bust out of Luna II. The rest as they say is history.

She reached for her pocket, and pulled out a small data disk. She looked at it with a long sigh "It's happening all over again..." she muttered, "The federation is making the same mistakes they did before..."

Her scanners then gave a warning signal, and her eyes widened as she saw another group of mobile suits heading in her direction, ReZELs.

"Dammit. Now the shit really hits the fan!" she said to herself as she prepared to activate her Jegan if they find her. "Damnit, I hope the Swords picked up the message I sent!"

* * *

_**Meanwhile**_

_**Swords of Freedom HQ 'Garden of Thorns'**_

* * *

Takeshi and Linda stood in a hangar, looking up at a brand-new machine that had been delivered by Gründer while they'd been away.

The machine stood at 20 meters tall, and was easily identifiable as a Gundam due to its Head Unit. The machine had a black torso, while its head and limbs were a dark blue, and its Head-Mounted V-Fin was the standard gold associated with all Gundams. On its left forearm was a medium-sized shield, while its right forearm carried a device consisting of a buckler shield, a beam rifle, and a switchblade-type weapon. On its back was a decent-sized flight pack, with a pair of Beam Sabers mounted on it. The Shoulders carried weapons as well, and the same Swords Takeshi had on his GM were mounted on the new machine's waist.

"So this is your new machine..." Linda remarked, gazing at it in awe. "The Tempest Gundam..."

"Yeah," Takeshi replied, gazing at his new machine. "I knew Gründer was developing a new machine for me ever since I became a Newtype, but I wasn't expecting it to be so impressive..."

"Gründer only makes the best machines for the best pilots!" A voice shouted, as Takeshi and Linda turned around to see someone walk towards them wearing a red and orange Grunder Heavy Industries Technician Jumpsuit, a young man about as old as Takeshi with short dark brown hair and brown eyes. "You're Takeshi Yamato, right? Name's Victor Rumpky, most call me Vic. I'm one of the technicians put in charge of maintaining the Tempest's condition."

Takeshi turned and smiled. "A pleasure to meet you, Vic," he said. He gestured to Linda and said, "This is my wife, Linda. She's also the Combat Operator on the Argama."

"A pleasure to meet you, Mister Rumpky," Linda greeted as she bowed slightly.

"And you as well, Miss," Vic said with a respectful smile and bow as well, before turning to the Tempest. "Gotta say, the Tempest is probably one of the best projects Gründer has finished so far, even better than the Valkyrie Project. They took a lot of your suggestions into its design, along with a few additions they made themselves we believe you'll like."

Takeshi looked intrigued at that as he gazed at the Tempest. "What additions are those?" he asked.

Vic shrugged. "Nothing too fancy," he said. "Improvements to the sensors, increasing engine power output, visuals, and some other stuff. However... Gründer wanted me to pass on a request they have for you."

"A request?" Takeshi asked, curiosity in his voice. "What are they requesting?"

"Well..." Vic said, glancing around making sure no one else was listening before gesturing Takeshi closer to him. "Gründer is working on a really big project lately... it's a private project where they plan to replace the Minovsky Reactors as the mainstay power sources for Mobile Suits."

Takeshi blinked at that. "Serious?"

Vic nodded at that "Dead serious. They're planning on installing it into some of the other new Mobile Suits they're already constructing. They're almost finished, though," he said, while Takeshi's eyes widened a bit.

"New mobile suits? More Gundam-types?" he asked and Vic nodded.

"Yeah, though I'm not sure they're all Gundams or not, what I do know is that the name of the first machine is Valiant. And it's being personally watched over by Miss Artemis," he said. "What I do know is that the new energy source does not release M-Particles, and is non-fusion or fission in function. Meaning unlike Minovsky Reactors, it doesn't disrupt communications while its active, and if the new reactor were to go critical or was destroyed, the resulting explosion would not be nearly as large as a Minovsky-powered MS's would. It would drastically reduce the risks of colonies being destroyed by MS Reactor explosions, and the lack of M-particles makes it more suitable for Atmospheric combat, since M-Particles released in atmosphere cause all sorts of havoc on electromagnetic communications for weeks."

Takeshi's eyes were wide open. This new drive sounded like it had quite a lot of potential... "And I'm assuming they want to put one of their new power sources in the Tempest?" he asked.

Vic put his hand on his chin in thought. "I think so," he said. "But I'm just the guy who helps maintain these things and make sure they don't fall apart. But between you and me, if they install this new drive in this baby, any Feddie with a brain out there better watch out!"

Takeshi smiled. "Well, if that is their request, I'll gladly accept whenever they're ready."

Vic chuckled a bit "Yeah, that's their proposition," he said. "They would like you and the Tempest to arrive at their newly built Directus colony in L4, it's where the Prototypes are being built. They'll refit the Tempest with the new engine when you arrive. They also were wondering if you and the Swords would be willing to escort the other Prototypes back here to the Garden of Thorns, along with the new ship black sword's been building."

Takeshi nodded. "Linda and I will have to bring up the escort matter with Captain Hohenheim, but I'm pretty sure she'd agree," he said. "And even if she doesn't, Linda and I can easily load the Tempest onto a Sled and fly out there ourselves."

Linda nodded. "Definitely," she said. "If giving Takeshi the best in technology upgrades will help keep him safe, I'll help in any way I can."

Just as she finished, klaxons sounded and the PA system blared.

"_Attention all personnel, emergency alert Delta-Epsilon-Zulu! Repeat..." _

Takeshi's widened at that. "DEZ alert?"

"What is that?" Vic asked. "My military lingo is a little rusty."

"Long story short, we've got an emergency rescue mission on our hands," Takeshi remarked, using a low-gravity jump to reach the Tempest's cockpit, Linda right behind him. "So, that trip to L4 is going to have to wait a bit. I'd suggest you get to the _Argama_, Vic, because that's where I'm going."

As Vic started running out of the Hangar and headed to the _Argama_, Takeshi hopped into the cockpit, strapped himself in, and brought his new machine online, Linda slipping behind him in the cockpit as he opened a comm channel to the _Argama_. "_Argama_, this is Takeshi Yamato," Takeshi said into the comm channel. "I'm currently heading your way in a new Mobile Suit with Linda as a passenger, so if you'd kindly wait on launching until Linda, myself, and the tech assigned to this machine get aboard, I'd greatly appreciate it."

"_Copy that, Takeshi! Just get your ass back here fast! The Captain is ordering an immediate launch as soon as everyone is back on board!" _said one of the Bridge crew and Takeshi nodded.

"Copy! I'm on my way back now!" Takeshi said and cut the link.

"I wonder which operative it is that needs evac," Linda remarked as the Tempest got underway, running through the Garden to reach the _Argama_.

"Not really sure," Takeshi replied. "All I know is that they need evac, and the pickup is most likely going to be hot - looks like the Tempest will be getting a live combat trial sooner than I was expecting."

With that, the Tempest began to head to the launch catapult in order to head out to the _Argama_.

* * *

_**Later**_

_**On the **_**Argama**

* * *

The moment Takeshi, Linda, and Vic arrived on the _Argama, _it immediately proceeded out of the Garden of Thorns as quickly as possible, making course towards the location of the Operative in need. While that happened, Trisha was now addressing the _Argama's _MS Team, informing them which Operative is in need.

"An hour ago, our operative in the ECOAS headquarters on Luna II, codenamed "Scarlett" sent us an emergency message that she has acquired intel that is most crucial and that it must be delivered safely back here in the Garden of Thorns," the new captain of the Argama said as she turned to the space map showing Earth Sphere, with it solely focused on Luna II. "But, unfortunately, Scarlett was compromised. Thankfully, she had informed us that she had commandeered a Jegan ECOAS Type and has left the base. We can assume that Federal Forces were dispatched to either eliminate or capture her."

"What's our expected opposition, ma'am?" Takeshi asked.

Trisha then pressed a button on her remote which showed various pictures of mobile suits.

"The Federal Forces Contingent at Luna II is expected to be equipped with mobile suits, from GMs, Jegans, Nemos, Guncannon Detectors, and some ReZELs," she said. "We also believe they might have a few Valkyries in there as well, along with other Space combat-capable MS. We have to move in fast, find Scarlett, and get her out of there before any _more _Federation forces show up."

"Where do you think she's hiding?" Johnny asked, his face far more serious than it's ever been before.

Trisha blinked at that, but switched it back to the map.

"She could be hiding in one of the few debris fields around Luna II," she said. "Though, which one, I'm not sure."

"Like trying to find a needle in a haystack," Matthew said.

"We're going to find her," Johnny said firmly, once again surprising most of the people there. "Captain, when's our best ETA?"

"With full speed we should arrive there in less than an hour," Trisha said. "Hopefully less, if we burn out the engines, which I won't risk. Ridden, I know you want to save her, but we also can't risk lives unnecessarily."

"Yeah, man, relax," Takeshi said, placing a hand on Ridden's shoulder. "I know you're worried about her, but she's a triple-digit ace! She can hold her own until we find her."

Johnny didn't feel too entirely convinced, but he nodded all the same.

"We also won't be alone," Trisha spoke up, "We have one of the _Alexandria_-class Heavy Cruisers, the _Corinthia,_ that Captain Uraki and his team found, as well as the _Salamis Kai_-class Cruisers, the _Artemisium, _the _Plataea, _and the _Mycale _coming to help us as well."

"That's good to hear," Takeshi remarked. "I'm assuming that some of us will be engaging the Luna II forces directly as a distraction while the rest search for Scarlett?"

Trisha nodded at that. "That's correct Mr. Yamato," she said. "The distraction team will be composed of Patriots, GM-IIIs, and Nemos. They'll keep the main force busy while the rest search for Scarlett."

"Is it okay if I join the distraction team?" Takeshi asked. "I want to give my new machine a Live Combat trial."

Trisha thought about that, before nodding her head. "I don't see why not. Better now than later to give one of our new machines a test run."

Takeshi smirked a bit at that. "Thank you, Ma'am." he said.

"Just try not to overexert it like you did your GM," she said, which caused a few of the other pilots to snicker. Takeshi sighed at that.

"Don't worry about that," he said. "The Tempest was designed by Gründer especially for me, with multiple enhancements to ensure that I don't outstrip its reaction times. I haven't tested it in live fire yet, but if it works as advertised I shouldn't have any problems."

Trisha smiled at that. "That's good to hear," she said as her face turned serious. "All pilots are to be on standby in their machines until given the order to launch. Dismissed."

Then everyone in the room then left the briefing room, all except Johnny, who had a look of serious dread on his face.

"I know you're worried about Veronica." Trisha said. "But we _will _get her out of there, I promise."

Johnny nodded in affirmation. "I know that Captain," he said as he turned to leave. "And god help any Feddie who gets in my way..."

* * *

_**30 minutes later**_

_**MS Hanger of the **_**Argama**

* * *

Takeshi was in the cockpit of the Tempest, going over the systems of his new suit. He had to say he was impressed with how Gründer built their mobile suits.

"The Exius looks like it's in working order," he said to himself as he went over the weapons. "The Boomerangs are functioning properly, the Beam Sabers are at 100%, and the swords are built exactly to spec. The forces at Luna II aren't going to know what hit them."

"Building Gundams is not the only stuff Gründer's good at," said Vic as he entered, wearing a hangar crewman's yellow normal suit. "In fact, we strip down any older model of Mobile Suit, find any weakness and make it better than it once was. It's the reason why so many people come to us instead of Anaheim."

Takeshi nodded. "I'm assuming that's how you guys came up with the Patriots?" he asked.

"Pretty much," Vic said. "Just take some of the older GM types that the Feddie's either abandoned or forgotten, take 'em apart, update 'em, and put it back together! Gründer actually has a standing bounty for salvageable Mobile Suits, equipment, and even ships! Not only does it help Gründer, but it also helps clear space from debris from past battles in space, making travel between colonies in space safer."

"Sounds rather efficient," Takeshi remarked. "Any new projects in the works that you know about?"

"Tons," Vic said, grinning. "Gründer always has dozens of different projects going on, mostly in the Mobile Suit and Warship department. The most notable of them being that new Reactor project I mentioned, and Gründer's own Warship development project. They're working on several new Space vessels to be used by the Swords and the Feddies, as well as a few more... private projects meant exclusively for the Swords of Freedom."

"Sounds interesting," Takeshi replied. "I look forward to seeing what some of those projects are."

Vic smiled at that. "You will, buddy." he said, before he remembered something. "Oh, and remember what I said about us salvaging battleship wrecks and mobile suits? They of course have to be careful with the remains they find, and notify the families. We may be a up and coming Arms Manufacturer, but it doesn't mean we're heartless. Black Sword usually does the forensic and burial details for the victims."

"Makes sense," Takeshi remarked. "Honestly, the only truly heartless ones are the career politicians... and probably the heads of the Vist Foundation."

Vic nodded at that. "True...one of the bosses of Gründer was actually in the middle of the whole Stardust fiasco. She was a former Mobile Suit designer from Anaheim, but she found that the company was making normal lives miserable, so she quit. It was not long before she was scouted by Gründer, and she has been a great help to us."

Takeshi was definitely intrigued. He'd heard about the Stardust fiasco, and the fact that one of Gründer's higher-ups had been involved was rather interesting. "I take it she now handles MS design for Gründer?" he asked.

"Pretty much," Vic said nodding. "She's in charge of a good part of Gründer's Prototype M.S development, since she took part in the construction of the GP0-series. Nina joining Gründer was one of the best things to happen to the company."

"Wow, I can't wait to meet her," Takeshi said. "What other projects does she work on?"

Vic scratched his head at that. "Well, from which projects I know she was on that were not classified, she did have a hand in the "Wagtail Renew" Project"

Takeshi quirked an eyebrow at that. "Wagtail Renew?"

"Yeah, it's a project to upgrade the GM Type C Wagtail's," Vic said. "Upgraded to keep up with modern M.S-"

"_Attention all crew!_" The Captain's voice was heard over the Intercom. "_We are 15 minutes out until arriving at Luna II. All Mobile Suit pilots are to report to their stations, and prepare for deployment!_"

"You'd better get out into the hangar, Vic," Takeshi remarked, slipping his helmet on. "Things are about to get rather hectic here."

"Got it," Vic said with a quick salute. "Take care, Takeshi... and don't scratch the Tempest's paintjob! It's Custom!"

"If the Tempest works as advertised, the enemies aren't even going to come _**close**_ to touching me, even as I take them down up close and personal," he remarked, grinning.

Vic felt a feeling of foreboding at that. "Why am I not so assured," he said, and left the cockpit.

Takeshi chuckled at that, as the cockpit hatch sealed and the panoramic monitor activated.

"This is Yamato. I'm ready to head out."

* * *

_**Meanwhile**_

_**On the bridge**_

* * *

Trisha was now wearing a full Normal suit along with the rest of the bridge crew as the _Argama _proceeded forward. In the distance, the sensors picked out the Earth Federation HQ of Luna II in the distance, as well as the numerous Mobile Suits and ships now patrolling the area, no doubt searching relentlessly for Veronica.

"Whoa. That's a lot of ships," said the helmsman. "And all for just one person?"

Trisha narrowed her eyes at the fleet in front of them.

"Whatever it is Scarlett has, they either want it or destroy it," she said, and then turned to Linda. "Have all mobile suits launch, and inform the other ships to do the same."

"Roger," Linda replied, turning to her monitor. "All MS Launch! Repeat, All MS, Launch! Yuu, Takeshi, you're first up!"

"_Moving to catapult now,_" Takeshi replied, even as the displays showed the Tempest moving to the starboard catapult. "_I'll help keep them off of you while you all search for Scarlett._"

"Just be careful, Takeshi," Linda said to her husband. "And come back to me."

"_Don't worry, I will,_" Takeshi replied as the Tempest settled into the catapult. "_Takeshi Yamato, Tempest Gundam, IKU ZE!_" he called out as the catapult shot him out into the fray.

In the hangar of the _Argama, _Johnny approached his Gründer Modified Gelgoog High Mobility type, painted in his signature crimson red paint scheme. All the while worrying about Veronica.

He and the Former Ace of the Federation met two years after the One Year War ended, as she was part of the occupation forces, due to Side 3 being her former home. She saw first hand how the Federation treated the citizens of Zeon, and she began to see what the Federation truly was.

After Stardust happened and the Titans were formed, it was the last straw for Veronica. She found whatever ways she could to sabotage the Titans, and when he found out about it, Johnny directed her to the Swords of Freedom.

To say the reddish orange haired woman was surprised to be in the presence of two of Zeon's famous aces was an understatement.

After telling them that alongside her expertise as a mobile suit pilot, she was also skilled in counter-intelligence, Nasha made her an agent, and had her monitor the Federation. Things like troop strengths, mobile weapon projects, etc. She was one of their most valuable agents in the Federation.

But now that was over, and Johnny knew just as much as anyone else that they had to save her before the Federation got their hands on her. If they do, they will torture her until she died, or force to reveal the location of the Swords base in the Garden of Thorns. He swore he will not let that happen, and if any of those pigs ever did anything else to her, there will be hell to pay.

'_I'm coming, Scarlett. Just hang on.' _He thought, as he secured himself into the cockpit of his MS.

* * *

_**Meanwhile**_

_**With Veronica**_

* * *

Veronica cursed again as she dodged a beam shot from one of the pursuing ReZELs. She was spotted by one of them by chance and was forced to leave her hiding spot. She already brought one of them down, but at the cost of her mobile suit's right arm, which unfortunately had her beam rifle. Now she had her shield, and a beam saber, as the remaining ReZELs chased after her.

'_Not good, Not good!_' Scarlett thought, as she flew around the surrounding debris to escape her pursuers. '_I'm running out of options here!_'

She rounded around the wrecked hull of a _Musai-_class cruiser, while two ReZEL's in M.A mode continued to follow her relentlessly, firing their beam cannons, missing her only impacting on the hull of the Cruiser.

Scarlett then got an idea, as she flew towards the rear of the _Musai, _and the ReZEL's followed. '_Come on, shoot... shoot..._' She thought, as she flew her unit next to one of the engines. The ReZEL's did exactly as she expected as they switched to MS mode, and fired their beam cannons at her. But she dashed downward as the cannons blasted the engines of the _Musai,_ which apparently still had fuel in them as they detonated in a large explosion, causing a chain reaction which claimed the entire ship and the two ReZEL's, but Scarlett didn't escape scot free as one of her Jegan's legs was damaged.

However, Scarlett had once again escaped capture, and found a new hiding space in another trashed vessel, a _Zanzibar-_class this time. '_I can't keep this up much longer..._' she thought, looking over her suit's condition. '_I won't be going much further in this... hu?_' She looked out her suit's monitor, and found her suit had actually entered the hangar of the Zanzibar. And as luck would have it, the hanger was still rather intact. Even better, aside from all of the debris which floated around... on the opposite side of the hanger was a single MS-14A Gelgoog, looking in very good condition.

She looked at the Gelgoog, before looking around her own cockpit '_Alright... damaged advanced Federation M.S... or out-dated but still seemingly intact and serviceable Zeon M.S..._'

She about her chances of survival if she sticked with either choice before she sighed.

'_I'm fucked either way' _she then unstrapped from her linear seat, and opened the cockpit hatch. Before she left her damaged Jegan, a thought came to mind and she smirked.

"Let's give those boys a little something to chase..." she said to herself, and activated the autopilot by pressing a few buttons on the display screen. After plotting a course for which way the damaged should go, Scarlett vacated the damaged Federation MS and headed for the Gelgoog.

She found the access hatch of the Gelgoog, opening the door to the cockpit as she entered just as her old Jegan began to move out. She quickly strapped herself into the Gelgoog and began running it through a systems check. "Alright, Oxygen... good, sensors good, weapons... Twin beam sword, a shield and beam rifle... nothing fancy, but it'll do." She activated the Zeon MS, and the Mono-eye flashed to life as the MS awoke. Scarlet grinned as the Gelgoog started activating. "Perfect, she's running as if she just came off the production line. Gotta give Zeonic Company credit, they know how to make Mobile Suits last."

She then heard on her radio about the Federation finding her mobile suit and are now chasing after it.

'_Idiots...' _she thought as left the cover of her hiding place. Slowly making her way out of the debris belt. However the sensors of the Gelgoog managed to pick up a handful of additional MS approaching the field. '_More feddies?_' she thought as she looked. However, upon seeing the MS, she let out a long sigh of relief at the sight of a handful of Patriots, lead by a very familiar red Gelgoog HM Type.

'_Johnny...thank god.' _she thought before carefully and cautiously moving over to them, all the while setting the radio to the Swords secured channel.

"This is Scarlett to Swords Team. Johnny, is that you?" she said, relief coloring her tone.

"_This is the Swords of Freedom to Scarlet,_" the familiar voice of Johnny Ridden said, with just as much relief. "_We read you Scarlett, are you alright?_"

Scarlett smiled at hearing Johnny's voice. "I will be as soon as we get of here," she said, then her face became serious. "And we need to get back to the Garden of Thorns ASAP, I got some major info that will blow everyone's mind."

"_Copy that,_" Johnny said. "_Where are you, and we'll escort you back._"

"I'm in a Gelgoog, heading towards you right now," Scarlett said. "Feddie's are chasing a Jegan I set for Auto-pilot, it should buy us some time."

"_Right, I see you. Soon as you meet up with us, let's get the hell out of here," _Johnny said.

"Right," she said, just as the Gelgoog met with the Swords Squadron, and the group headed away toward the waiting fleet.

* * *

_**Meanwhile**_

_**Other side of Luna II**_

* * *

**(Begin BGM: 'SCRAMBLE' Gundam 00 Season 2 OST)**

Near the other side of Luna II, the defenders had been beset by multiple Swords of Freedom warships and MS, and most of the defense fleet had been sortied to repel the assault.

However, Takeshi and his new Gundam were in their midst, and the defenders were trying - and failing - to land a hit on him.

"YAHOOOOOOO!" Takeshi called out, spinning his machine to dodge the fire of an incoming ReZEL, even as he fired off a few shots from the Exius in Rifle Mode to take the arms and legs off of a Jegan. He then snapped the Exius into Sword Mode and charged at the ReZEL, reducing it to a harmless, immobile torso in seconds.

"Man, this thing is amazing!" he said. "Forget working as advertised - it works even _**better**_ than advertised! It's like the Tempest is perfectly synchronized to my thoughts and what I want it to do!"

Approaching a team of GM III's, Takeshi stored the Exius, drawing one of the Tempest's Beam Sabers and pushing the throttle to the max, decapitating the Mobile Suits as he went by.

"Argama _to Tempest, come in Takeshi!_" Linda's voice said on the radio. "_We're preparing to fall back, Scarlett has been secured. The fleet is going to fall back soon, so head on back here!_"

"Roger," Takeshi replied, turning towards the Argama and launching forward, storing the beam saber and activating the Exius in Sword Mode again, disarming any Federation MS along the way. "Once we've gotten away, we should talk to the Captain about that detour to L4 that Vic mentioned."

"_Already planned Takeshi,_" Trisha's voice said on the comm. "_Vic and Linda informed me earlier. The rest of the fleet will head back to the Garden of Thorns, while we head for L4 after we shake the Federation off our tails._"

"Roger that, Captain," Takeshi replied as the last of the Federation MS disappeared behind him, moments before the Argama came into view. "Those new Prototypes will probably be a very good addition to our forces, not to mention that new power source Vic mentioned. I'm glad Gründer's on our side."

"_That makes over a dozen of us," _said the Captain, as the Tempest finally reached the ship and landed in the hangar bay, followed by two Patriots.

* * *

_**On the Bridge of the **_**Argama**

* * *

"Ma'am, the Tempest as well as the rest of the mobile suits are back onboard the ship," Linda reported, while Trisha sighed in relief.

"Good," she said, "send word to all other forces: Fall back and split up to prevent the Federation from following us, and regroup at the Garden of Thorns. Helm, once we lose the Federation, plot a course for L4, to the Gründer Cairo Colony."

"Yes Ma'am!" Said all of the bridge crew as they carried out her orders. Soon, after the entire Swords fleet gathered all of their Mobile Suits, the ships left the vicinity of Luna II.

Shortly afterwards, the door to the bridge opened as Johnny Ridden and Scarlet entered the bridge. "Captain," Scarlett said, giving her a salute. "I believe I must thank you, and the rest of the _Argama's _crew for getting me out of there... I owe you big time Captain."

Trisha gave a small smile. "You're welcome, Scarlett. And I must say, you made quite the commotion when you were compromised," she said.

"Yes, but if you knew what I found in Luna II's data banks... it's not that much of a surprise," Scarlett said, as she brought out the data disk. "This is the info I got from Luna II... and none of it is pretty."

The Operative handed the disk to Trisha, who looked at it with a calculating eye.

"Hmm, I think Nasha and Zar will be interested to know what's on this disk." she said, and handed it back to Scarlett. "Good work, Scarlett. Before we head to the Garden of Thorns, we're making a quick detour to L4. Gründer has some new Mobile Suits and a Ship for us, which we will be escorting back to H.Q."

"Understood," Scarlet said, "I'll do what I can to help, I may just have that Gelgoog, but it'll do until I get something better... or if Gründer is kind enough to upgrade it."

Trisha chuckled at that. "Knowing that you found a mostly rare type of MS, I'm sure they'll be drooling over it, just to take it apart and upgrade it as much as possible." she said, and Scarlett scratched the back of her head sheepishly at that.

"Hehehe...They probably will."

* * *

_**Meanwhile**_

_**At Palau**_

* * *

Char sat in the chair behind the table of the elegant room that was his 'office' in the Palau colony's 'Palace'. Char himself didn't much care for the decor, but even he had to admit it had a nice feel to it. Though he honestly believed the money to build the whole Palace would of been better served elsewhere.

A week after the successful theft of the Sinanju Stein, and much has already happened. The people of Palau, upon hearing of Char's return practically rejoiced, and was followed by a colony-wide celebration, kept away from the eyes of any potential Federation spies of course. Thankfully according to the Swords of Freedom, Palau has been largely ignored by the Federation, who did not perceive Palau as a threat.

While mechanics had been working day after day to refit the Sinanju Stein to Char's specifications, now calling it just the 'Sinanju', they have already conducted a handful of light raids on Federation convoy's and bases. Nothing too much, but enough to start rattling the Feddie's cages.

As he thought about how things were drastically changing, a knock sounded at the door.

"Come in," he said, and in entered Captain Zinnerman, Marida Cruz, and a scowling Hathaway Noa. He remembered when he first met the boy, back on the Sweetwater Colony. The son of the former Captain of White Base was naive and ignorant to what the Federation really was. And it appeared little has changed, other than he now apparently was obsessed with vengeance for the death of Quess Paraya.

Sighing, he folded his hands on the desk, and once they reached them, Char spoke "Hathaway Noa..." He began, "What a surprise to see you again... its been a long time, hasn't it? I must say, you look remarkably like your Father."

Hathaway glared at the Red Comet at that, which caused Char to sigh at that.

"You still blame me for Quess' death, even when all I did was teach her how to handle a Mobile Suit," he said. "Quess chose to pilot the Azieru, just as she chose to pilot the Jagd Doga. I never told her she _had _to do any of that."

"What makes you think I will believe you?" the son of Bright Noa growled out, while Char just closed his eyes.

"I don't," the Former Zeon Ace said. "In fact, I fully anticipate you hating me until the day you grow old and pass on." He then opened his eyes which bored into Hathaway. "By the time the colony drop of Axis began, Quess was displaying high amounts of natural Newtype powers. However, the development of her powers also caused Quess to become highly unstable as her immature mind was forced to deal with the realities of war, and death."

Hathaway, although he didn't show it, felt intimidated by the leader of Neo-Zeon, as Char continued.

"I asked her, begged her, to sit out the fighting." he said as he sighed irritably. "Unfortunately, she was persistent, and almost threw a tantrum if Gyunei hadn't intervened."

"Gyunei?" Hathaway asked with a raised eyebrow. "He was... the pilot of that other Jagd Doga, right?"

"Yes," Char said, nodding. "And he was another admirer of Quess'... " He then sighed as he leaned back in his chair. "I admit, originally I had wanted to use Quess to further my own mission in dropping Axis... but as time went by, Quess became far more than I could handle, as she seemed to be starting off conflicts with both Nanai, who distrusted her, and Gyunei, who was just as infatuated with her as you were."

Hathaway remembered the woman who was always by Char's side. He also remembered Gyunei, who gave him bad vibes when they saw each other.

"If I had put my foot down then and there, I would've had Quess sent back to the Federal Forces, thus preventing her death. But...teenagers as you all are..." he said leaving the quote hanging.

"Are stubborn and ruled by their hormones," Zinnerman finished, causing Hathaway to glare at him. "Hey kid, its the truth. You're damn living proof of it."

Hathaway sighed in irritation at that, before looking back at Char. "So, what do you plan on doing with me? You know I would refuse to defect to your side."

Char nodded at that, knowing it would be pointless to change his views and have him join Neo-Zeon.

"No, I expected you wouldn't," he said as he stood up. "I was thinking of sending you to the Swords of Freedom. I'm sure the former Federation members of that group will help you see the ugly truth, behind the lies of the majority of that corrupt government."

Hathaway's eyes narrowed at that. "What are you talking about?" He demanded, "And who are the Swords of Freedom?"

"In Short? The Swords are a group much like the AEUG," Char said, as he stood from his chair, walking past his desk. "They've been around since Operation Stardust... their goal runs parallel to the AEUG's as well, to ensure independence and equality for the colonies. They have been working on revealing the true nature of the Federation for some time. Even after the Titans were disbanded in the Gryps Conflict, many in the Federation still hold resentment against the colonies."

Char then stood right in front of Hathaway. "You know this as well as I do," he said. "No new colonies are being built, those that do exist are controlled by the Federation. Even the Republic of Zeon may as well be part of the Federation with all of the restrictions they placed upon them after the One Year War, which only increased after the first Neo Zeon War." He then glanced behind him, to the wall where the flags of both the Principality of Zeon and Neo Zeon hung side by side together. "The dropping of Axis has started something deep within the Federation..." he continued. "I fear the Federation is preparing to make the same mistakes they made after Stardust... haven't you noticed that ever since 0093, the Federation has been getting more... aggressive? Just like they did during the reign of the Titans?"

Hathaway thought about that, and he, as much as he hated to, had to admit that the Federation was becoming too aggressive. And not just against Side 3, but all Spacenoids, including the now former Riah Republic.

"But...not all of the Federation could be like this, could they?" Hathaway said. "My father, Commander Bartlett, Wardog Squad..."

"As I said, the majority of the Federation has become more aggressive," Char said. "However, your Father is among that Minority that still upholds his own ideals, and believes the colonies and Earth should live in peace. I cannot speak for this 'Wardog Squad', but that is for you to decide." He then turned around and once again sat down in his chair. "I have arranged you some transport to the HeadQuarters of the Swords of Freedom," he said. "From there... it is your choice as to what path you will choose. Whether you fight for the Swords of Freedom, or with the Federation, is your choice. All I ask of you, Hathaway Noa... is to choose wisely. But I do hope that one day... we may be able to work together, to achieve the peace the people of the Earth Sphere have been longing for, for far too long."

With that, he nodded toward Zinnerman, who nodded in return and placed a hand on the young man, and gestured him to leave. When the three of them left, Char was left in the office to his thoughts.

"It seems things for that boy will change," he said to himself. "Hopefully for the better."

* * *

_**Meanwhile, Lagrange Point 4**_

_**Side 5 'Loum' Colonies**_

* * *

Lagrange Point 4 was known for being the home to many of the Earth Sphere's colonies. It was once home to the Side 6 'Riah' Colonies, however after the reorganization of the colonies in 0094, Side 6 moved to Lagrange Point 5 while Side 5 'Loum' colonies were moved to L4 in their place.

When Gründer made its first moves into space, they constructed two specially designed colonies just for exclusive Gründer use, designed to maximise the amount of people capable of living in a single colony. Gründer designed the Island 5 'Homestead' type Space Colony, largely based off of the more famous Island 3 'O'Niell' Cylinder type Space Colonies, however the major difference is the large ring at the opposite end of the colony, looking like a Island 1 'Stanford Torus' Ring-type Colony were attached to its front end.

It was essentially what the 'Homestead' Colonies were, a merge between the Island 1 and 3 colony designs, doing so allowed more people to colonize the Gründer colonies than most other colonies in the Earth Sphere. Originally, Gründer had only managed to make two, Castleguard and Sudentor, along with their own lunar industrial settlement of Hoffnung. However in recent years, Gründer has been building additional colonies, as recently the colonies of Anfang, Dinsmark, Lumen and Glatisant had been completed, the colony of Directus is nearly completed and already being colonized, and Gründer has plans to develop at least eleven more colonies in the future. This is the first large colony-building effort ever done in the Earth Sphere ever since the Federation ceased all colony development earlier on in the Universal Century.

Though technically part of the Federation, the colonies of Gründer are barely influenced by the Federation, as they are very self-sufficient colonies. Any supplies that they need that they cannot create themselves such as construction materials are imported either from the Hoffnung Lunar Settlement, or through one of Gründer's Earth-side bases such as the Falklands or New Zealand. Even Gründer's PMC 'Black Sword' has taken over the role of protecting the Homestead colonies rather than the Federation.

However, for some, they viewed the Gründer colonies, because of this, 'weaker' than other. And it was because of this, that a fleet of one _Tivvay-_class Fast Heavy Cruiser, four _Musai-_class Light Cruisers, two _Endra-_class Cruisers and one _Gwanban-_class Battleship floated just outside the sensor range of the colonies, their presence further masked by the Minovsky Particles being projected around them.

"This is an awful big risk we are taking," Said the Commander of the _Gwanban, _on the bridge as he looked out into space where the Directus Colony floated ahead of them. "We've been keeping quiet for a while now... but once we strike, the Federation will know we exist."

"We had to make our move sooner or later," A voice said, as the Commander turned to see a man in his mid 30's enter the bridge, wearing a dark green caped Zeon Officer uniform with long white colored hair tied into a ponytail, and hazel colored eyes. "We can't hide forever, Admiral Hasler."

Admiral Yuri Hasler sighed with a nod. "That may be Commander," he said. "But so soon after the Axis drop..."

"We must show the Federation that the true ideals of Zeon have survived," The Commander said, "And they will never die as long as so much as one son of Zeon survives... Neo Zeon was proof of that, and so is our True Zeon." He looked out the window to the colony. "The Federation has not changed... not at all." He continued, "The message we sent in Operation Stardust has been forgotten, as the corruption within the Federation still exists, even with the Titans gone. The true intentions of the Federation against Spacenoids must be revealed once again, just like it was after Stardust."

Admiral Hasler nodded "Yes... you may be right... Commander Gato." he said, "So, how shall we proceed."

Commander Anavel Gato, the Nightmare of Solomon, grinned as he looked out the viewscreen. "We proceed as we planned," he said. "We attack the colony as a diversion, while our second force moves in from behind to attack the colony from within. We find Gründer's Prototypes, and unless we can capture them... we destroy them."

The Admiral nodded at that. "Will you be part of the team?" he asked, and Gato nodded.

"Of course," he said. "I stole a Gundam before back in Stardust," he then grinned, "and I intend to do it again."

Admiral Hasler sighed at that, knowing that the man's specialty. "You are one of the few aces left alive after the War of Independence. If you fall, like you almost did after Stardust, the troops' morale will plummet."

"You know as well as I do that I am not that easy to kill," Gato said with a chuckle. "I survived the Physalis being destroyed, and I escaped death when the Neue Ziel crashed into that Feddie cruiser when I jumped out at the last minute."

"...and it was just luck that one of our own patrols scouted around the area searching for survivors after the Feddie's left," Hasler said, "Otherwise you'd of probably died of lack of oxygen... or the Earth's gravity well could've pulled you in."

"Yet here I am," Gato said, "The fact I lived through all of that proves it was my destiny to survive the battle, and it was my destiny to serve True Zeon just as I did the Principality and Delaz." He then turned away and began to leave the bridge "But for now Admiral, I need to prepare to steal a Gundam once again, my team is waiting for me."

The door to the bridge opened, and then closed as Gato went to his men in the hangar.

Hasler watched the man leave, a thought of worry in his mind.

'_It's true he survived multiple times,' _he thought, _'But there will be a time where his luck will run out.'_

* * *

_**0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0-0**_

**117Jorn: THE NIGHTMARE OF SOLOMON RETURNS B****S!**

**Takeshi Yamato: Oh, slag... looks like the Swords and Char's group are going to have their hands full, what with the Feds, the Vist Foundation, and Gato's group...**

**Patriot-112: Yep. And who knows who's with Gato and the other Pro-Gihren Loyalists. **

**117Jorn: Anyways, that's it for this chapter ya'll. Sorry for the LONG-ASS delay, but as you know, we've got a lot of other fics to work on. So until next time...**

**Everyone: JA NE!**


End file.
